Here's To Us
by PD31
Summary: Sequel to Freddie Goes To Hollywood. After the gang finish their time at Hollywood Arts they move on to new things. For Tori, Beck and Jade not only does this mean joining Freddie as UCLA but also becoming his house-mates.
1. Chapter 1

Here's To Us

By PD31  
Disclaimer: I _still _don't own iCarly, Victorious, any of the episodes or any of the characters.  
Rating: T  
Pairings: Established Teddie (Tori/Freddie) and established Bade (Beck/Jade).  
Summary: Sequel to Freddie Goes To Hollywood. After the gang finish their time at Hollywood Arts they move on to new things. For Tori, Beck and Jade not only does this mean joining Freddie as UCLA but also becoming his house-mates.

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the sequel to Freddie Goes To Hollywood! I hope you are all well and are at least familiar with the original story (if not it can be found in the iCarly/Victorious cross-over section).**

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Chapter 1

_430 Dalehurst Avenue, Los Angeles, California_

_Thursday, 23__rd__ August 2012_.

Victoria 'Tori' Vega sighed with fatigue as she glanced around the room that she and Fredward 'Freddie' Benson would be sharing from now on. She mopped her brow with the back of her hand before drying the hand on her jeans, frowning slightly at the amount of dust her hand picked up from the fabric and silently feeling happy that she had had the foresight to wear an old, worn and faded pair for the task of moving her stuff across town.

"You ok?" her boyfriend of a little over a year asked from the doorway.

"Yeah," she confirmed wearily as she smiled over her shoulder at him, "it's just… Freddie, where did all this stuff come from? I had _one room_ at mom and dad's, you had half a dorm room and we seem to have taken up most of the house – and that's without the others bringing their things."

'The others' in question were Beck Oliver and Jade West, who would be sharing the small house with the couple during their time at UCLA; Tori, Beck and Jade were due to start in September, while Freddie would be entering his sophomore year there. Tori was surprised by a soft laugh coming from right behind her, immediately followed by a pair of muscular arms encircling her waist from behind and a chin resting gently on her left shoulder.

"I know the feeling; I couldn't believe how much stuff I brought with me from Seattle last year and had no idea where I was going to put it all. At least I haven't really _added_ to it over the last year – and we're not taking up _too_ much of the house; Jade wouldn't like that," he chuckled.

"Freddie?" she asked with a hint of fear in her voice, "do you think it will all work out? The four of us living here together I mean," she elaborated; she had no doubts over taking the step to move in with the boy, she had loved every minute of the past year that she had spent with him, but living with the other couple as well threatened to be a trying experience for all concerned.

"Shh," he whispered, rubbing her stomach gently through her T-shirt in an attempt to pacify and calm her, "this is college; I was thrown together with people I didn't even know and we all work it out in time. Everything will be fine; you've got a head-start in that you already know all your housemates."

"I guess," she conceded weakly before turning her head slightly to steal a kiss from his lips. Before she knew it she had turned around completely and they stood in one another's arms trading gentle kisses.

"Quit it love-birds, there'll be time for that later," came a teasing call from the doorway; Jade stood there leaning against the frame with her arms folded across her chest and a satisfied grin on her face.

"Jade!" Tori called, rushing over to pull the girl into a reluctant hug, "we weren't expecting you guys back for a couple more days."

"Beck has an audition tomorrow so he needs to stay for a couple more days and needed time to prepare for it, so I figured I'd just head back early," she shrugged. To Freddie's eyes the gothic girl, today wearing purple hair extensions in her shoulder-length dark brown hair, seemed a little uncomfortable discussing her actor boyfriend but he kept his counsel for now, preferring to enjoy the sight of her squirming as his girlfriend engulfed her and smiling at the two former rivals.

"I love the new look," he commented approvingly.

"Thanks," the girl answered in mild surprise; her hair was a little shorter than it had been, around shoulder-length, and also a lighter brown than they were used to seeing, though she still wore the light green extensions in it. "Just you two here?" she enquired with a hint of surprise as she looked around over Tori's shoulder at the bedroom that was fast taking on the identity of its occupants as they unpacked their things, "I thought your parents would be here to help," she commented to her fellow former Hollywood Arts student.

"They're busy," Tori supplied, a little cautiously as she released the other girl. "Still trying to get everything back to normal after… what happened."

The Vega parents were talking again regularly and almost 'dating' again; Mr Vega had not yet reached a position where he felt able to move back into the family home following his wife's infidelity but they were both hopeful that they were moving towards a position where they _would_ get back together properly. Both Tori and her older sister Trina were glad to hear the news and hoping that the full reconciliation would happen soon.

"So do you have all your stuff with you?" Tori asked her friend.

"Pretty much; obviously I can leave quite a bit at mom's for the time being and get it when I need it but I got most of it. Good to see you left me some space in the kitchen, Vega," she half-joked, causing Tori to roll her eyes a little.

"Those two are going to argue _a lot_ over the next few weeks," Freddie commented after the newcomer had retreated to the Master bedroom, which she and Beck would be sharing.

"How come?" Tori asked curiously.

"Because I doubt _either_ of them particularly hurries in the bathroom on a morning," he commented airily. "In fact it wouldn't surprise me if Beck spent longer grooming himself than she did," he finished with a shrug, causing Tori to chuckle at his comment.

"You could have a point; at least _you_ don't take too long."

"And if _you're_ taking too long," he grinned wickedly, "I've no problems about just getting in the shower _with_ you to save time."

"I wouldn't mind that," Tori shrugged casually, "but I don't think it would end up saving much time," she finished with a laugh.

"You could well be right," he conceded and they kissed again. Jade rolled her eyes and tutted quietly when she saw that they were still kissing as she walked by the room a few minutes later as, having unpacked her first case, she heading off to collect her next box.

The dark-haired beauty didn't _really_ mind witnessing the other couple's private and slightly intimate displays of affection; in truth she was pleased to see her friends so happy and very much in love. It did, though, make her question her own romantic situation a little, wondering about the scarcity of such displays between her and Beck in recent weeks. It was something, she resolved, that she needed to be more proactive with upon his return, either initiating a few more PDAs or at least talking about it with him.

"Hey, do you need a hand?" She turned at the sound of Freddie's voice as the boy hovered just behind her as she opened the trunk of her car.

"You got sick of making out?" she asked teasingly, casting a wicked smirk in Tori's direction as her fellow brunette watched from the house's front door; the girl had removed her glasses as they kept threatening to slide down her increasingly sweat-slicked nose.

"No, just thought that you could use some help with everything," he said airily.

"That'd be great, if you could grab one of the boxes, I'll take the other. Tori, can you shut the trunk behind us?" she called; the lighter-brunette nodded and made her way over to join them, closing and locking up the car before following them to the Master bedroom where they set the boxes down.

"You want a coffee before you unpack?" Tori offered her friend.

"Do you _really_ need to ask," she joked; the three headed to the kitchen and began preparing their drinks. Tori, in particular, was thankful of the break as she had been busy for most of the day unloading all of her things. Freddie had moved the bulk of his stuff in earlier; the end of the previous tenants' let had coincided with the ending of his own on the UCLA campus so he had simply packed up and left most of his things in the new house, only taking clothing and a few valuable or personal items (such as his computer) with him to the Vegas' home, where he had spent the summer with his girlfriend, her sister and their mother.

"How was your summer then Jade?" he asked the black-clad girl; they hadn't seen as much of one another as they had expected due to the former Hollywood Arts students all having rather busy schedules as they sought to capitalise on their tutelage and become established in the entertainment industry.

"It's been pretty good. It started with Beck, mom and I going to Cancun for a few days just to relax after everything after sending out resumes; obviously we had cell phones with us in case anybody tried to get in touch about them."

"Any luck?" Freddie interjected.

"I got a small part in a commercial and a 'background scenery' extra part in a new sitcom. Not as much as I'd have liked but a start. André tried to help," Tori raised her head a little at this note, "he invited me to the studio and got me to sing back-up on one of the tracks he was making. They said all the right things afterwards but haven't called back."

Her fellow brunette nodded. "That's where I got lucky; obviously I'm already signed to RPX so I was down there quite a bit, sometimes working with André, sometimes with some of the other guys there while we put my album together."

"Right, it's out soon isn't it?" Jade asked, working hard to keep her voice pleasant; as pleased as she was for her friend, it was difficult to keep the resentment from her tone that Tori had made it already and she was still trying to get her foot in the door.

"Soon, yes but…" Tori's voice got a little higher and more enthusiastic at this point; the other two turned to her curiously, particularly Freddie with whom she hadn't yet discussed this, something that slightly surprised him given that he thought she would tell him everything about her career, "we still need one more song for it, they wanted a duet and I suggested you," she finished by pointing her right index finger playfully towards the other girl.

"Me?" Jade was stunned by the news.

"I wanted someone I knew I could work with, I already know that our voices work great together," both girls shuddered a little and Freddie's brow darkened as the three recalled (second-hand in his case) the night that two guys tried to hit on them when they were hanging together celebrating a successful performance in one of their school productions the previous year, "and…" she smiled, "I wanted to give my friend a chance to show the world what she can do."

Jade was almost at a loss for words. "Thank you," she managed to get out.

"You're welcome, you deserve the chance to get noticed," Tori replied sincerely.

"They're really ok with you picking an unknown?"

"They suggested a couple of people but I asked for you. André backed me up and the guys who had heard you sing back-up for him championed you as well, so they said yes." Jade smiled gratefully at the news.

"I guess Trina was disappointed that you didn't suggest her," Freddie commented playfully. His girlfriend shuddered at the thought.

"I haven't told her about this; I figured it was safer not to, leave her on the Spanish Language Channel with her comedy show and let her work on her acting."

"It's probably safer not to mention it to her then," Jade agreed. "Anything else that you guys have been doing this summer?"

"Well obviously I've been at the studio nearly all summer," Tori answered, fatigue creeping back into her voice, "trying to get this album done. _Hopefully_ it will be done before school starts, depending on you now," she smirked at Jade who returned it with interest. "My agent called a couple of times with offers of small parts in a couple of shows and he's in negotiations with the networks about them; none of them have actually been finalised yet but hopefully they'll happen – it's all profile as we said. He even whispered something about a movie part but that would be months away with the weekend gigs and everything else planned."

"Sounds like you've got it made," her fellow brunette observed.

"I hope so, and I hope I can give you and maybe Cat, if she wants, a bit of a leg-up as well. Hey, someone's got to help so it may as well be a friend," she smiled.

"Speaking of her, what is up with Cat; I've not heard much from her at all this summer."

"Uh last time I called her she told me that she'd moved in with her grandmother before we graduated; how did I not know that?" Tori wondered aloud.

"I think you were preoccupied with the anthem and the dog," Jade reminded her, grinning wickedly.

"Right," the Platinum Music Award headliner dragged out. "Anyway she's been living there, there's no sign of her parents coming back from… Idaho?" Jade nodded her confirmation, "anytime soon. I think she's looking at getting somewhere else to live when she joins us here and is looking for a room-mate."

"Neither André nor Robbie would really be _suitable_," Freddie noted thoughtfully, "so it's likely to be someone she won't really know if she does go down that route."

"Well we'll be there to vet them anyway," Jade declared forcefully, "I'm not having her live with some psycho." She drained the last of her coffee, placed the mug in the sink and headed back upstairs to focus on unpacking.

"You need any help with the boxes?" Freddie offered.

"Thanks," Jade smiled gratefully, "but I'll be good from here, you two go back to what you were doing earlier," she waved them away playfully then she added in a light voice, "and lock the door just in case!"

"Jade," Tori groaned but Freddie started chuckling again.

"Sounds like good advice to me," he noted, wrapping an arm around his girl again and planting a kiss on her cheek.

"Well I guess it is a new bed," his girlfriend commented, making a play of trying to rationalise things. Freddie's arm slid down her side and he interlaced his fingers with her, leading her gently out of the Master bedroom. The darker haired girl shook her head and smiled as the couple left; the smile dropped just a fraction as she heard the lock click on the room next door, followed by a tell-tale giggle from her one-time rival. She crossed the room to put as much distance between herself and their room as she could, sitting on the bed and swallowing down her frustration; again it wasn't that she was upset that Tori and Freddie were so happy, she just couldn't help but compare their relationship to her own with Beck – and was coming rapidly to the conclusion that they compared rather unfavourably at this moment in time. She sighed as she tried to put her concerns out of her mind, returned to the task in hand, opened the first box and looked around her new home.

_Maybe it's just that we've been together longer_, she speculated. _Some of the spark's died down a bit; we just need to work on it and get it back – starting when he comes back and moves in here_.

_Friday, 24__th__ August 2012_.

The three sat around the table having a late breakfast; for Freddie and Tori their late rising had been due to them enjoying spending a lazy morning kissing and cuddling in bed, secure in the knowledge that they had nowhere to be particularly urgently (Tori and Jade would be heading to the studio after lunch to go over the details of their duet, Freddie had an afternoon shift at the Pear Store; he had been signing up for as many as he could while Tori was busy working too). For Jade it had been a bit of a different story; the darker brunette had had difficulty in getting to sleep, tossing and turning a little with the thoughts of her boyfriend and their relationship. She had been expecting a call from him the previous evening with news of how his audition had gone so she had been upset, and a little worried, by the fact that she had not heard from him at all wither last night or this morning.

So it was a surprise to the girl, and her new house-mates, when a rattle of a key in the front door lock was accompanied by it opening and a familiar voice calling out, "Hey guys!"

"Beck!" Jade called, smiling at the sound of him. "We're in here," she informed him.

"Hey," he repeated when he entered the kitchen and saw the three sat at the table. Both Freddie and Tori were a little surprised at his appearance; his hair was a little longer even than it had been in his High School days, it was slightly slicked back as well.

"How did it go? I thought you'd call me," his girlfriend gabbled, standing and pulling him into a hug.

"Sorry, the audition overran and after they took me out to celebrate, we got in late then I had the early flight this morning and – what?" he finished curiously at the broad smile on her face.

"Celebrate? You got the part? That's awesome!" she enthused, planting a kiss on his lips and hugging him again.

"Yes, yes it is," he agreed a little too cautiously as the other two added their own congratulations.

"What's the problem?" Freddie asked in surprise.

"The series is filmed in Vancouver," he explained patiently, "it means that I'll have to be up there regularly over the next few months; I'm not going to be around much on weekends – fly up Friday lunchtime and fly back Monday on the red-eye after an intense weekend of filming." He eyed Jade regretfully. "It means we won't get too much time together with school and whatever else is going on."

The girl nodded; it was disappointing for her to learn that they would get even _less_ time together, especially when she'd have to live with a _very_ happy couple in Freddie and Tori, but he couldn't be expected to turn down such a great opportunity to star in his own series fresh from High School. Jade pulled back from him a little to gaze into his eyes. "I'm proud of you," she told her boyfriend.

"Thanks," he smiled back before casting his eye over the three teenagers. "Ok, I called by the RV and my parents' place and picked up my stuff; is there any room for it all in here?" he asked lightly.

"I think we saved you a corner somewhere," Freddie joked back.

"I'll get moved in then," the actor replied, heading back out to get his things.

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**AN: Ok that's the first chapter of this story; I hope you enjoyed it. Please drop me a review and let me know what you thought and I'll see you soon for the next chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Hello everyone and thank you for coming back to read Chapter 2 of this little story. I hope you are all well and may I wish a very happy Easter to those of you who celebrate it.**

**As ever I'd like to use this space to thank those of you who read and reviewed the previous chapter – Fanfic-Reader-88, Agent-M, Jeremy Shane, The Question23, pbow, Challenge King, Crovus and 'Guest'; thank you all for your feedback. I believe I addressed everyone I could by PM so we'll just get on with the story this time; I hope you enjoy it.**

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Chapter 2

_430 Dalehurst Avenue, Los Angeles, California_

_Monday, 27__th__ August 2012_.

It had been a long, tough day for Tori and Jade at the recording studio; the girls had been working hard on their duet all day, writing, rewriting, fine-tuning and finally making a start on the recording. They hoped to have it finished the next day, which would mean Tori's first album would be completely finished, recorded and ready for release; it was something the lighter-haired girl was desperately looking forward to having worked so hard on it and for so long over the summer months.

Tori had worn a little smile as she and Jade arrived home, having seen her boyfriend's car in the driveway; Freddie, she knew, had spent another full day at the Pear Store, where he had been for most of the summer, reasoning that he may as well work as many hours – and earn as much cash – as he could while his girlfriend was also busy. It was a logical choice but it had resulted in two tired teens who were unwilling to do too much on an evening other than a little cuddling in front of the television. The brunette's smile widened, therefore, when she saw her man lying on the couch taking a nap. She stole across the living room and climbed onto the couch, her knees resting either side of Freddie's as she gazed down adoringly on her love. She saw him frown slightly at the feeling of the change of weight on the couch around him but he didn't stir. Emboldened by this the girl leaned over him, resting her hands by his shoulders as she swooped down to kiss him softly, drawing a small smile from his lips though again he appeared to remain asleep.

Tori gently lowered herself on top of the soon-to-be sophomore, resting her head in the crook of his neck and bringing her arms around to be as close to his body as she could without disturbing him. She closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of closeness to Freddie and promptly fell asleep as fatigue caught up with her.

Jade, meanwhile, had spent the first couple of minutes since the pair arrived at home looking over the front yard, pulling a couple of weeds and looking over the flowers; it was something that, perhaps surprisingly, the gothic girl found relaxing and therapeutic to do on an evening. Having tidied the garden a little she made her way inside, pausing at the threshold to the living room as her eyes fell upon her slumbering housemates; whether consciously or otherwise Freddie's arms had found their way around Tori's back. The darker brunette smiled at the sight of the couple before softly walking past them to the kitchen and brewing herself some coffee. She sat alone at the counter with her drink, reflecting sadly on how Freddie and Tori's happiness contrasted with her own loneliness at this time; Beck was spending the last week or so before school started up in Canada getting some extra scenes shot for his new series. The girl told herself that it would be worth it, that it would mean that he didn't have to travel up _every_ weekend during the term and they might get a little more time together. She found, however, that really didn't help her mood in the short term. She shook her brown locks as she deposited her empty cup in the sink and walked back past the couple, still asleep in one another's arms, to the staircase. She gave them one last look, mingling happiness with a tinge of jealousy, and headed upstairs to her bedroom, collapsing on the bed as her own weariness began to overcome her. She had just closed her eyes when the shrill tone of her pear phone dragged her back away from sleep's welcoming arms. The aspiring actress opened a bleary eye and saw her boyfriend appear on the caller ID so she accepted the call and placed the phone to her ear before closing her eyes again.

"Hey babe, how's it going?" she greeted him.

_Wednesday, August 29__th__ 2012_.

The brown-haired sophomore woke to the pleasant feeling of his girlfriend's lips traversing his face; he feigned sleep for a few more seconds to allow Tori to continue, suppressing a wrinkle of his nose as her brunette locks tickled his bare skin. When his girl leaned fully across him to reach his right cheek he swiftly wrapped his arms around her back and spun them around in one motion so that he was now laid on top of her. He opened his eyes and grinned as she tried to overcome the surprise she was feeling, surprise that was written large across her face.

"Good morning, beautiful," he smirked, swooping down to claim her lips with a light kiss.

"Don't _do_ that," she complained.

"What, kiss you?" he teased, faking affront. "Ok," and he raised his head a couple of inches further from her own.

"That's not what I meant and you know it," she groaned, pressing the palms of her hands on his back and pushing him back down towards her; he acquiesced and they kissed again, gently to begin with but growing swiftly in heat and passion.

After spending a highly enjoyable quarter-of-an-hour in a similar pursuit they were disturbed by the growl of the brunette's stomach.

"Looks like we need to feed you," Freddie laughed, disentangling himself from her embrace and wriggling off the bed before offering Tori his hand to help her up. The two headed downstairs hand-in-hand and entered the kitchen, slightly surprised that their darker brunette housemate was already there.

"Morning Jade," Tori stifled a yawn as she poured two cups of coffee.

"Hey guys," she smiled at them before returning to her toast; Freddie, meanwhile, collected a couple of bowls and the cereal box before retrieving some milk from the fridge. "Any plans for today?"

"Well since we _finally_ finished my album I thought a day off was well earned," the lighter brunette began, "and I managed to talk _this one_," she playfully tickled her boyfriend's midriff with her left hand, "into agreeing and having a day where he wasn't at work so now we need to figure out what to do with our day."

"Any ideas?" the gothic girl asked curiously; with Beck still in Canada she, herself, was at a bit of a loss for something to do now work on her and Tori's duet had concluded so as much as she'd be loath to admit it she wouldn't fully object to tagging along if possible.

"I thought we might call in on mom and Trina," the youngest Vega began, "maybe hit the mall in the afternoon and then see my dad tonight?" she glanced towards Freddie.

"Sounds good, unless Jade has any plans we might want to join in with?" he threw the girl a glance having detected the small flicker of her face falling before she could recover her poise.

"No, I've nothing to do," she shrugged, "though I was thinking of going to see Cat; I've not seen her in a while and I could do with seeing what's going on with her."

"Well do you want to do that this afternoon and we'll go with you?" Freddie proposed. "See how she's getting on and whether she's found a new place yet."

Tori nodded. "The mall will still be there next time we have a day off," she smiled. "So do you want to visit mom and Trina with us?" she asked Jade who, if possible, went even paler at the thought.  
"I'll pass; I want to get a couple of books for my course so I'll do that this morning," she made up the first excuse she could think of.

_Vega Residence, Hollywood Hills_

Tori rang the doorbell out of politeness before opening the front door; it had only recently dawned on her that nobody ever seemed to lock it – something that certainly wasn't the case with her new home.

"Hey," she called out, slightly surprised that nobody was in the living area. "Anyone home?"

"Tori!" her older sister called, taking the stairs two at a time as she rushed down to greet her.

"Hey, Treen, how are you?"

"Great thanks. Freddie," she smiled and pulled the boy into a tight hug, holding on for as long as she could before the younger girl prised her off her man; Tori took his hand slightly defensively, as if to show her sister who's the brown-haired boy was.

Mrs Vega arrived from the basement a moment later; she too greeted her youngest daughter exuberantly and smiled warmly and broadly at her boyfriend. "I've been meaning to call around but with you working and trying to finally make things right with your father there just hasn't been time," she complained.

"It's ok mom, we're going to be there for a while – and I'm just glad that you and dad are putting things right between you."

"Me too, sweetie," she agreed. "Do you kids want coffee or something?" she offered; having just finished breakfast both politely declined.

Trina commented regretfully that she would have to go soon; she would be filming her TV show, Divertisimo, later on this morning. They took advantage of her presence to ask about her life in general, how the show was going, how prepared she was to return to college – Freddie even enquired about her love life; he was rewarded by being regaled with the usual dramas that went on in that portion of the nineteen-year-old's life, about how she'd met the _perfect_ guy and was going to make him fall in love with her. Her mother and sister both rolled their eyes and tuned out; Freddie humoured her by listening before delicately pointing out the flaws in her plan, and buttering her up a little by arguing that such an attractive girl shouldn't _need_ to make someone fall in love with her and that the right guy will do that anyway. She smiled happily and fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"Sorry Trina, right guy but for a different Vega," he smirked, looping his arm through his girlfriend's. Trina pouted a little but the girls' mother smiled happily at the teenage couple, remembering fondly on a time when she and her husband would act like that; she hoped to get those times back soon.

Trina left shortly after and the remaining trio passed half an hour or so discussing the teens' new home and how they were settling in. Mrs Vega reiterated her intention to come and visit soon; the weekend was suggested and agreed upon – Saturday evening once Freddie was home from work. They _hoped_ that Beck would be back as well by then, given that classes started the following Monday, however his schedule was still rather chaotic, much to Jade's mounting frustration.

"So when are you next seeing dad?" the soon-to-be-college freshman asked. "We were hoping to see him tonight but obviously if you two have plans then they're more important – especially if it leads where we all hope it will," she added optimistically.

"Not until tomorrow," her mother answered, "so you two go ahead and see him; I know he'll love to see you and hear all about the new place."

"Who knows," her daughter commented hopefully, "with a bit of luck maybe you'll come and visit together this weekend?"

"We'll see," was the cautious reply, drawing a nod from the girl.

_6829 Camrose Drive, Los Angeles_

Jade rapped impatiently on the door to Cat's grandmother's home; the woman referred to as 'Nona' answered shortly after, smiling at the gaggle of teenagers stood outside.

"Hello dears," she greeted them genially, "are you my little Caterina's friends?"

"We are ma'am," Tori answered politely.

"Come in, come in," she beckoned them, stepping away from the door and granting them admission. "We're just talking with the dear girl who's going to be her new roommate when they get their new apartment tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Jade asked in surprise, silently lamenting the lack of contact she had had with the red-headed girl over recent weeks. It was a similar feeling for Tori; all the moreso since she hadn't even been aware at the time that the girl's parents had left the state, leaving her in the care of her relative while they stayed near their son's residential hospital in Idaho. "We need to meet this girl then and see what she's…" the dark brunette stopped in her tracks as she saw the identity of the girl; a blonde and rather familiar looking girl, though the gothic one was surprised to see her dressed in a medium-pink, knee-length dress and wearing her hair in a pony-tail.

"Hi Freddie," the blonde girl greeted in a surprisingly high-pitched voice as she smiled at him and it widened as she took in Jade's surprised look and Tori's amazed one. The brown-haired boy eyed her for a moment before fully processing the voice, which seemed to confirm his suspicions.

"_Melanie?_" he asked, drawing confused looks from the brunettes who currently flanked him, before the nicer twin confirmed it with a girlish giggle and flung herself upon him, hugging the boy and kissing his cheek exuberantly.

"What are you doing here?" he asked when he set her back down. "Oh, by the way, this is Jade and this is my girlfriend Tori," he added, introducing his housemates and immediately registering her slight flicker of disappointment that greeted his use of the word 'girlfriend'.

"Well to answer, I needed a place after being in USC accommodation all of last year…"

"Wait, you've been in LA for over a year? Sam never told me that," he complained.

The blonde frowned at the mention of her twin sister. "Yeah well she…" Melanie trailed off as she cautiously eyed Tori, "that's a story for another time," she settled for before restoring her smile. "I'm here and Cat and I will be rooming together next year and hopefully beyond."

"Well it's good to see you again," he smiled genuinely and pulled the good twin into another hug, one that she readily returned; Jade smirked at the sight of Tori's brow furrowing slightly in response.

* * *

"Well, at least we know she's not an axe-murderer," the black-clad girl commented as the trio left Nona's home a few hours later, having been well plied with teas and coffees by their friend's grandmother.

"It was good to see her again," the Seattle-born nineteen-year-old noted idly, "I just wish I'd known that she had been in LA all this time; another friendly face to hang with would have been good."

"_Just_ a friendly face?" Tori asked a little testily.

"Well I think _all_ of her is friendly," he remarked innocently, refusing to be drawn, before his girlfriend's darkening features persuaded him to change tack a little. "Yes she had a little crush on me the first time I met her – I didn't actually think she was real as Sam had been pranking me all week before she showed up," he admitted, "and yes she's a nice girl. But I love _you_ Tori, you don't have to worry about her. I gave you my heart and I'll never regret doing so," and he kissed her tenderly, further eroding any feelings of jealousy that his girlfriend was experiencing.

"If you two are done being nauseating," Jade called, ruining the moment for them and her trademark smirk well in place, "shouldn't we be heading back if you're meeting your dad for dinner?"

"Right," Tori agreed, "let's go." Then she dropped her voice, "We can carry this on later," she told her man, unable to resist giving him another quick kiss; Jade rolled her eyes a little and got into their car.

_Micheli's, 1646 N Las Palmas Ave_.

After a quick stop at their new home to change the teenage couple left Jade behind and headed back out to meet up with Tori's father; they arrived at the restaurant before he did and sat in the lounge area waiting for his arrival while one of the servers brought them a couple of sodas.

"This is a nice place," Freddie commented as he glanced around at the décor.

"Yeah, I heard that some of the waiters actually sing while customers are eating. Whether or not that's a good thing I'm not quite sure," she shuddered as her mind was suddenly filled with the thought of her sister somehow landing a job here and singing to the customers who promptly fled in their droves. Just then her attention was drawn to the door as it opened and a familiar face entered.

"Dad!" she called, waving to him; his face lit up in a smile as her spotted his daughter and her boyfriend.

"Hi sweetie," he said, hugging and kissing the girl. "Freddie," he shook the boy's hand warmly. "Have you been here long?"

"Just a few minutes, sir," Freddie replied as the maître d' arrived to show them to their table.

"How's the new place working out?" Mr Vega asked once they had all ordered.

"Pretty good so far," his daughter told him, "we've settled in and it seems to be going ok between us. We'll see what happens once school starts though, I guess."

"I'll have to come along and take a look sometime soon," he commented; Tori nodded eagerly.

"We'd love to show you around," she enthused.

"How are you getting on, sir?" Freddie asked politely; the LAPD detective smiled as he answered.

"I'm doing ok thanks Freddie. Work keeps me busy, too many criminals on the street… and away from there, well – things are slowly getting better I think," he directed the comment to Tori; she smiled enthusiastically.

"That's really good to hear."

The three spent the rest of the meal chatting jovially and enjoying the food and ambiance of the restaurant. Once they were finished they prepared to go their separate ways.

"So when would you be thinking of coming over?" Tori enquired.

"Maybe this weekend? I'm not working Saturday _or_ Sunday this week."

"Sure," the teens nodded.

"I'm at work on Saturday but either evening or Sunday I'll be around; then again you don't _really_ need me to be around just to see the place. Tori can do the job of showing you the place just as easily."

"Well we'll see; I'll call ahead and fix up a time."

"Sounds great. 'Bye dad, I'll see you soon," she hugged him.

_430 Dalehurst Avenue, Los Angeles, California_

"So how was it?" Jade asked from her vantage point in front of the TV when the couple walked, hand-in-hand, into the house.

"Good meal, good company," Tori smiled at her man, "dad's doing well so yeah it was a good evening. How was yours?"

"Oh me and the TV got on great," the gothic girl drawled.

"Any news on when Beck will be back?" Freddie asked.

"Not before Sunday he told me. It's great that he's working but…"

"You miss him," Tori finished sympathetically. "Is there much on TV?"

"Trina's lousy show has a marathon on the Spanish Language Channel," she informed them brightly.

"Sounds like the perfect way to end the day," the younger Vega grinned wickedly and the couple joined their friend on the couch.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading; I hope to see you next time for Chapter 3. In the meantime please drop a little review and let me know what you thought. Thanks, PD.  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Hello everyone and thank you for clicking on Chapter 3 of this story; I hope you have all had a pleasant week and have enjoyed the story up to this point. As ever I give special thanks to those of you who were kind enough to review the previous chapter.**

**Challenge King – no, it really **_**is**_** Melanie; Sam is at UW with Carly and, while of course people **_**can**_** transfer from one college to another, she has no reason to leave her BFF behind and pretend to be her sister.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – as above, the demon is still in Seattle.**

**Jeremy Shane – thanks and here is more.**

**Agent-M – I'm glad that you're liking it; this year could be an interesting one for our gang.**

**Pbow – what can I say without any spoilers… It definitely **_**is**_** nice for Freddie in the 'eye candy' department; he may only have eyes for his girl but that doesn't mean that he can't be flattered by the attention of other girls, or enjoy having Jade around as well. As for how things work out for our other couple, on-set romances wouldn't be unheard of though, for all Jade's suspicions, concerns and Beck's refusal to shoot down any girls who made advances on him, I don't think he's ever actually cheated on her yet so maybe he would turn them down if it really came to it. We'll find out if or when the situation arises I guess…**

**Ok, on with chapter 3**

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Chapter 3

_430 Dalehurst Avenue, Los Angeles, California_

_Saturday, 1__st__ September 2012_.

It had been a quiet day for the girls of the house; Beck was still in Canada (he would be flying back down the next morning ahead of school starting for the group on Monday 3rd) and, with Freddie at work again all day, Tori had decided against making any plans, choosing instead to head to the store, get the house straightened and tidied and cook a light meal ahead of her mother's visit this evening (Mr Vega had still to get back to her with a time for his own visit). Jade had accompanied her on her errands (being Jade she claimed that it was to make sure she bought the right stuff and some things that were actually edible; her fellow brunette rolled her eyes and pointed out that she was Freddie's _girlfriend _not his mother). In truth the gothic girl's feeling of loneliness was increasing by the day; even though the young couple did their best to include her in their activities during the day the truth was that she missed Beck and felt like a third wheel, particularly when her friends were kissing or cuddling on the couch or anywhere else, walking hand-in-hand or with arms round one another when out somewhere or just generally looking so at ease and so _happy_ together. She missed Beck and was being all too forcibly reminded of just how much she missed the affection of being around her boyfriend; phone calls were ok but they just weren't the same as his being there in person.

"Hey, hey girls," a jovial voice called from the front door; Freddie was home. As usual he walked straight to his girl for a welcome home kiss and a hug; Jade averted her eyes as the sight served to intensify her feelings, something that wasn't lost on the brown-haired boy.

"Hi Jade," he said, quickly slipping an arm around her to give her a brief squeeze; normally someone touching her uninvited would be met with the trademarked Jade West death glare but she was touched by his little act and so just smiled at him. Tori looked curiously at her man. _Later_, he mouthed to her before, in a louder voice, observing that "something smells good."

"I hope so, we've been working hard on it all afternoon," his girlfriend grinned. When Freddie made to enter the kitchen, however, she seized his arm and pulled him back, "It's for when my mom gets here," she reminded him.

"Aw, but I'm hungry now," he complained in an intentionally pathetic voice.

"Maybe I can take your mind off that," she suggested slyly, gently pushing his chest with her hand to guide him onto the couch before sliding onto his lap. His arms instinctively encircled her waist and she planted a couple of kisses on his lips, her hands on his sides to steady herself.

While it _did_ distract him from any feelings of hunger, from the corner of his eye he could see the frown on Jade's face that she was trying to hide; his heart went out to the girl, knowing how much he missed Tori during the day when he was at work. He could barely imagine how it would feel for her to be away for weeks on end working; it was something he hoped not to have to find out anytime soon as he had a feeling that the weekends of her concerts would be difficult enough to survive.

Tori, however, soon took his attention away from even those musings as he became more and more engrossed in their make-out session; Jade picked up one of her text books and found a random page to read so that she could look at something other than the couple for a little while.

Luckily for the shorter-haired girl she wouldn't have to peruse her book for too long; a knock on the door drew the teens' attention.

"That must be mom," Tori assumed aloud, sliding off her boy's lap and trying to quickly fix her hair with her hand as she walked across the house. She wore a smile as she opened the door; it broadened considerably at who was stood on the other side of the threshold.

"Dad? Trina? Wow, I wasn't expecting all of you; hey mom."

"Hi sweetie, we thought we'd surprise you," Mr Vega explained as his daughter's housemates appeared at her shoulders in response to her greeting.

"You definitely did, it's great to see you all," the girl hugged her three family members in turn.

"Well we figured we'd take the opportunity to combine our visit with a celebration," her dad explained.

"You mean..?" Tori's smile got even wider as she eyed her grinning parents and happy sister.

"I moved back in yesterday," the detective confirmed, "_the guest room_ for now," he clarified, "but it's a start." And he slipped his left arm around his wife, who smiled contentedly next to him as their daughters exchanged delighted looks at the sight.

"Well invite them in then," Jade spoke up; her voice was a mixture of teasing and impatience.

"Oh right," Tori shot her a sheepish, embarrassed look, "come in guys," and stepped away from the door to let them enter.

"Something smells good," her mother noted as Freddie closed the door behind them.

"That's what I said," he noted, "but she wouldn't let me start on it until you all got here." His observation caused his girlfriend to roll her eyes at him and he grinned back; her mother swooned a little at the couple's cute interplay.

"Well we can eat soon; I just want to give them the tour first."

"The tour" didn't last very long (and, with Jade's consent, did include her and Beck's room).

"Not bad at all," Mrs Vega complimented when they ended the tour in the kitchen.

"I've seen plenty worse places," her husband agreed. "You should see some of the dives I raided when I was on the drug squad," he elaborated, shaking his head and shuddering a little at the memory; it was something he had always feared, his daughters ending up in that kind of place during their college years.

The teens served dinner and the six squeezed around the table to eat, chatting amiably and excitedly about the forthcoming start of the academic year and, for Tori and Jade, the new chapter in their lives. Trina was a little dismissive (as like Freddie she would be a sophomore) but he supported 'his girls' and playfully reminded the elder sister of just how big a deal it had seemed to him this time the previous year.

"I guess I've missed out on that with staying at Hollywood Arts," she observed a little ruefully.

The Vega patriarch surprised the housemates by producing a bottle of champagne after dinner, arguing that they needed to celebrate. They used a small amount and toasted to the new house and the on-going repair of the Vega parents' marriage before the guests had to depart as Trina had an early start the next morning filming more of her show; consequently they had left behind an appreciable volume of the sparkling wine.

"Well it would be a shame to waste it," Jade commented, topping up the three housemates' glasses. They sat talking, Freddie and Tori on the couch and Jade in an armchair nearby, as they drank.

"Are you ok Jade?" Freddie asked in concern as he set his empty glass down on the coffee table; the girl was looking more and more troubled as the evening wore on.

"Yeah," she sighed, the alcohol lowering her defensive barriers a little as she elaborated, "it's just that I… I miss Beck with him not being here. You two don't know how lucky you are to be here together," and her empty glass joined Freddie's on the table; Tori's completed the set moments later and she eyed her friend sympathetically for a couple of seconds before rising.

"Aw, come here," she cooed, stepping over and pulling the girl out of her chair and into a hug; Jade looked a little uncomfortable but, maybe due to the wine or her loneliness or just the feeling of being wanted coming over her again, she returned the gentle embrace. "He'll be back tomorrow and you'll get to spend all week together," Tori reminded her encouragingly.

"Thanks," Jade told them once the show finished and the couple were ready to head to bed, "I really do appreciate you guys helping to try and cheer me up but… I guess I just have to suck it up until he gets home." She watched them retreat upstairs together and lay back on the couch, closing her eyes and sighing deeply again.

She reached into the pocket of her dark blue jeans and withdrew her pear-shaped phone, punching in the familiar speed-dial number and holding the device to her ear.

"This is Beck, leave a message," her boyfriend's bright and exuberant voice declared, causing her to sigh again. It was unusual for him to have his phone switched off and she wondered where he was.

"Hey babe, it's me," she told his voicemail, "just checking to see if you're ok. Call me when you get this or else I'll just see you tomorrow, love you." Then she rang off.

Hearing some all-too-familiar giggling emanating from her female housemate and floating down from her friends' room dissuaded her from heading up herself just yet; she seized the TV remote control and began flicking through the channels in search of something to watch, while hoping that her man would at least call her back for a chat. She checked her phone at regular intervals, sighing each time that she discovered that it was switched on and receiving a signal but that Beck wasn't getting back to her. Midnight came and went so the dark brunette switched off the TV and made her way through the now thankfully silent house to the Master bedroom.

_Sunday, 2__nd__ September 2012_.

A weary Beck Oliver fished in his jacket pocket for his key to the house; his flight had landed about an hour earlier and the car that the studio had paid for had just dropped him off at home. He squeezed his eyes tight shut and frowned at the prospect of having to get everything prepared for starting school the next day; it was a punishing schedule for the young actor to be making the journey back and forth so often (and one, he feared, that was about to get even tougher). He was enjoying the work, and thankful of the early chance to establish himself in the industry, but he was finding the time away from Jade a little difficult and was also not looking forward to trying to combine school with filming.

Once his fingers wrapped around the metallic object he was able to gain entry to his home; he dropped his hold-all on the carpeted floor just over the threshold before quietly closing the door again behind him. A glance down the hallway towards the kitchen told him that nobody was up yet, _not surprising, it's still only around 8:30_, he thought as he made his way through the downstairs living area. The lure of coffee and breakfast definitely appealed to him but he felt that he had a more pressing need and smiled softly as he crept upstairs, trying not to make any noise and disturb his slumbering housemates.

On arrival at the Master bedroom he opened the door slowly and cautiously, looking around it and spying his girlfriend; Jade was asleep, hair strewn across the pillow and left hand clutching the top of the duvet tightly as she rolled over onto her side. He kicked off his shoes before divesting himself of his jacket and jeans, leaving himself in just his T-shirt, boxer shorts and socks as he made his way to his side of the bed and slipped under the covers with his girl, whose cheek he kissed softly before draping an arm over her and kissing and nuzzling her neck; it was enough to rouse her.

"What the -?" she began to wriggle at the strange sensation of intimate contact before freezing at his soft, familiar laugh. "Beck?" she yelped, wriggling again in an effort to turn and face her man; she succeeded and shot out her right arm to push the Canadian-born onto his back, allowing her to swing her right leg over to straddle him. She kissed him deeply and luxuriously before propping herself up on her elbows and asking, "When did you get back? I called you last night, you never got back to me…"

"Shh, shh," he whispered, cutting her off, "I just got back a few minutes ago. We had a meal and an evening together for the cast and crew of the show; I couldn't get away to give you a call but I knew I'd be here early and I was hoping to surprise you. Looks like I succeeded," he finished with a smirk.

"You sure did," she agreed, falling back on top of him and seizing his lips again. "I've missed you so much," she admitted between their kisses.

"You too babe, you too," he assured her, wrapping his arms around her back and holding her close.

The two cuddled quietly and contentedly until a few minutes later the long-haired actor's breathing slowed; Jade looked over and smiled as she realised that he had fallen asleep. Gently extricating herself from his hold she got out of bed and planted another soft kiss on his lips. "Sleep well," she whispered, figuring that she should get up and shower, ready for the last day before she becomes a college chick. She headed to the en suite to start it with a nice, warm, relaxing shower.

Down the hallway Freddie was just leaving his and Tori's room heading to the main bathroom, having had the same idea as Jade; he too was leaving his lover to sleep in. A quick shower later and the brown-haired tech genius headed to the kitchen, putting on a fresh pot of coffee and raising his eyebrows in surprise as he spotted his male housemate's holdall just inside the front door.

He grinned as, a few minutes later, Jade almost bounced into the kitchen. "Perfect timing," he noted as he picked up the freshly brewed pot.

"Give it," she commanded, picking up a cup and holding it towards him expectantly.

"Someone's happy this morning," he observed jovially. "It wouldn't have anything to do with the arrival of that holdall would it?" he teased, nodding in the bag's direction. Jade followed his gaze and spotted the item, widening her grin as she did.

"It would; it was a _great_ way to wake up on a morning," she purred before taking another sip of the reviving liquid.

"I'm glad," he said in a soft, low voice, "it worried me to see you looking so unhappy recently."

"Well he's back now," she tried to brush off his concern, "and we'll make the most of it until he has to go again. The perils of show business," she shrugged.

"I hope I don't have to experience too many of them any time soon," he admitted; his friend smiled supportively.

"Hey hey, do I smell coffee?" Tori called breezily as she appeared at the foot of the stairs. "Oh hey Jade."

"Hey Tori," she returned.

"Beck's back," Freddie interjected as his attractive girlfriend looked curiously at the happy girl who had replaced her miserable friend overnight.

"Oh that's great," she smiled warmly before peering past the pair into the kitchen. "Uh, where is he?" she enquired.

"In bed," Jade smirked, "he woke me up then fell asleep a few minutes later. Typical guy," she finished with a chuckle.

"Speak for yourself," Tori shot back with a meaningful look at her boy, who smiled back proudly.

"So," Freddie clapped his hands, "what are we doing with our last day of freedom?"

"Getting ready for college," Tori groaned. "There's still so much to do."

Freddie shook his head. "Tori, trust me. Having been there and done that, you _don't_ need to do _everything_ by day one. You'll be fine to show up tomorrow with the stuff you've already prepared and then we can sort the rest out later. Let's all," he glanced to his right and Jade's piercing blue eyes also watching him intently, "set the afternoon aside to have some fun; we can get stuff done and ready this morning, finish off our preparation tonight but enjoy the afternoon. Okay?"

"Fine," she conceded defeat before sidling over to him for a kiss, one that he was only too happy to give before furnishing her with a cup of coffee. "Thanks," she accepted the cup and kissed him again.

Jade, who had already finished her first cup of the day by this time, made a start on breakfast while the couple lost themselves in their own little world; the trio had finished their cereal and pancakes by the time Beck stumbled downstairs, still looking somewhat sleep-deprived.

"Hello stranger," Tori greeted him with a quick hug.

"Hey man," Freddie called, smiling at his friend.

"I saved you some breakfast," Jade concluded.

"Thanks," he yawned, "man I'm still wiped after last week and the early flight."

"You all set for tomorrow?" Freddie asked casually.

"I haven't even _started_," he complained.

"Well get busy because we're having the afternoon off to do something _fun_," the actor's girlfriend added, throwing a suspicious glance at the former tech producer as she did.

"Oh, what?" the Canadian-born was curious.

"I thought we'd start at Hancock Park; I still haven't been to the tar pits," Jade rolled her eyes at Freddie's suggestion but he continued excitedly, "it's something I really want to see – all the fossils and everything," he looked to his girlfriend for support.

"It's certainly somewhere I've never been," she supplied delicately.

"I wonder why not," Jade muttered.

"Sounds like a good place to start," Beck backed up his friend. With Tori, however reluctantly, willing to do likewise, they would make it the first stop of the day.

"Tar pits," Jade mused, "well that could be fun to push someone in I guess," she eyed her fellow singer-actress wickedly. "What else?"

"Maybe hit the Farmers' market?" the former Seattle native suggested before his girlfriend had a chance to rise to Jade's bait, "I know you girls went to the store yesterday but there's probably some good stuff there. – plus with the extra guests last night we went through more than we thought we would."

"Extra guests?" Beck was curious.

"Tori's parents are back together," Jade supplied, "so they were both here, plus Trina."

"That's great," Beck smiled at the half-Latina, who returned it warmly.

"And after that, we'll see what time we have and if there's anything else people want to do," Freddie finalised their plans.

_LA Farmers' Market, Third and Fairfax_

The two couple wandered amiably through the historic market; it was rapidly winding down by the time they got there but with a few stalls still selling their produce there was plenty to see. Tori leaned against her man's side as he browsed the fresh fruit on display at one stall.

"My mom would love this place," the short-haired teen commented with a wistful grin, "all natural, no chemicals, perfect for a health nut like her." He picked up a couple of bags and selected some fruit for his lunches in the coming week. "Anything for you?" he asked. Tori pondered for a moment before picking a few oranges and grapefruit; the teens handed their selections to the vendor who weighed them before Freddie paid.

After a pleasant stroll they met up with the other couple; Beck was also clutching a few bags filled with various things.

"See, it wasn't such a bad afternoon was it?" he teased Jade with a smile.

"No, I guess the tar pit was ok," then she turned to her man, "even if you wouldn't let me throw Tori in," and she smirked at the longer-haired brunette.

"Girl fights never end well," Beck observed dryly; Freddie nodded his agreement as Tori frowned at a grinning Jade.

"Anywhere else you guys want to go?" the former iCarly tech producer asked as the group headed for his car.

"No, I think I need to just get home and get ready for tomorrow," Beck admitted.

Upon arrival back at their house the group spent the evening getting ready, looking to Freddie for some advice about exactly what they would and wouldn't need; he, meanwhile, relaxed ahead of the new academic year by arranging a web chat with his friend Andy, who was sharing a house with some of their mutual friends from their course (one of whom, Gary, voiced the opinion that Freddie had made a better choice of housemates when Tori and Jade appeared briefly on screen when talking to him). Finally the soon-to-be freshmen believed that they were ready for the next day.

"I can't wait," whispered Tori as she and her man cuddled in bed that night. "I just hope it's everything that I expect it to be," she voiced one of her slightly nervous concerns.

"I'm sure it will be everything and more," he reassured her before adding a quick kiss to her cheek.

She fell asleep in his arms dreaming of the day ahead.

* * *

**AN: So the summer is over for our little gang and they will have the trials and tribulations of college to come; I hope you'll join us for them soon and, in the meantime, please feel free to drop a review – your feedback is always gratefully received. PD.**


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Hello everyone, welcome to chapter 4 of this story. I hope you've all had a good weekend so far and that you enjoy the latest little episode for our foursome.**

**Thanks, as always, go to everyone who read and reviewed last time.**

**Challenge King – yes, the Vega parents are working things out and Tori and Freddie did their best to alleviate Jade's loneliness while Beck was away, which I like to think is something that they would do.**

**Pbow – you're probably right on flight times; it was a little artistic license on my part (or maybe he has a secret girlfriend in LA somewhere and he was with her..?)**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – Hmm, Jori tar wrestling – there's certainly a storyline in there somewhere.**

**Jeremy Shane – thanks and here is more.**

**Agent-M – yes it's been tough for the Vega girls but hopefully the worst is over for the family as far as that is concerned, we shall see. Beck, Jade and drama do seem to rather go together…**

**That's all the reviews from last time, on with the show.**

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Chapter 4

_430 Dalehurst Avenue, Los Angeles, California_

_Monday, 3__rd__ September 2012_.

Freddie yawned as he rolled back onto his back after reaching out to switch off his alarm clock. He stretched as best as he could whilst trying to avoid contact with Tori, who was lying beside him.

"Ugh, do we _have_ to get up?" his girlfriend groaned.

"If you want to be a college chick then yes," he teased her gently before reaching out to give her midriff an affectionate tickle. She squirmed and tried to push his hand away. "I'm first in the shower!" he leapt out of bed, grabbed his robe and flew out of the room. The brunette sat up for a second, groaned again and flopped back down onto the bed.

What Freddie didn't know was that the couple's two housemates were already awake; like him Beck had beaten his girlfriend to the bathroom; _un_like Tori Jade had got up and decided to make use of the other bathroom (_technically _Tori and Freddie's, as the others' was an en suite room, but Jade West wasn't going to let a little detail like that get in her way when she wanted a shower) and so the sophomore opened the door to be greeted by a view of his housemate's exquisitely shaped rear as she leant over to pick up her towel. The darker brunette girl instinctively turned her head towards the door as she heard it open.

"Oh God, I'm sorry," he called as he closed the door quickly and stepped back to lean against the far wall with his eyes shut; a few moments later his friend emerged, wearing only an amused smile along with her towel. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be in there," he explained weakly as she passed him.

"Beck was hogging our bathroom so I used yours," she laughed.

"You could lock it next time," he suggested, a fetching red blush continuing to creep up his face.

"Like you're complaining about the view," she quipped smugly before heading back to her room. He shook his head, gave a slightly rueful smile and made his way inside, wondering if he ought to take a slightly colder shower than he originally intended.

He turned the tap off after his shower and stepped out onto the damp mat which Jade had left on the floor (so as to not get water on the floor itself). Freddie reached for his towel and was wrapping it around his waist when his brain processed a gentle tapping on the door. He wiped the excess of water from his feet and crossed the room to the door, unlocking and opening it to reveal his girlfriend.

"I didn't think you locked it," she commented as she stepped in, kissing his cheek as she passed. "It's not like there's something I've not seen before," the brunette added with a coy smile.

"No, but there was something _I_ hadn't seen before," he noted.

"Oh?"

"Beck was taking too long in the en suite so Jade was in here when I arrived."

"Ah." Then she chuckled. "Lucky Freddie eh?"

"Embarrassed, didn't-know-_where_-to-lookie Freddie more like it," he complained before brightening as he hopped over to give her a quick kiss. "I'll make a start on breakfast while you get ready."

The brown-haired boy made a quick stop back in their room, donning boxer shorts, a grey penny-tee (pink writing that read "Teddie Rocks"; he smiled at the special issue ones that were a first 'anniversary' gift for the couple from his friends back in Seattle – Tori had the 'reverse' shirt, pink with grey lettering), socks, medium-blue jeans and a blue-and-white shirt which he wore unbuttoned. He glanced at the mirror that hung over the dresser and ran a comb quickly through his hair before grabbing his bag and heading downstairs, where he deposited the bag just inside the front door before moving into the kitchen, smiling as he saw the other couple there; Jade, predictably, had a coffee cup in hand while Beck was cooking some bacon and eggs.

"You were checking out my girl then?" the tall actor accused in a joking tone.

"I tried my best _not_ to," he offered, feeling the need to defend himself despite Jade's continued amused grin.

"It's ok dude; we'll make sure to stick to our own bathroom in future," he promised on her behalf; Jade looked a little annoyed at his speaking for her but buried it in another sip of her morning brew.

Tori bounced down, dressed in her "partnering" penny-tee (Freddie had left it out for her and Jade mocked them mercilessly for being a "matching set") and her blue skinny jeans, just as Beck was serving up breakfast. Freddie handed her a coffee, receiving a kiss on the cheek in exchange, and the four ate, three discussing the day with a little nervous apprehension at what college would entail; Freddie meanwhile was far more relaxed, simply looking forward to catching up with his friends and course mates after the summer break.

_University of California Los Angeles _

_675 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA_

Freddie pulled the car into a spot close to his faculty's main building; he had dropped the three freshmen off en route, leaving them among the gathering throng of new students waiting to undergo their orientation, arranging to meet them at Cooperage for lunch and, time permitting, a couple of games of pool later. He smiled as he thought back on the look of daunted wonder on his girlfriend's face as she had looked around her at the scene. He was sure that she would have the time of her life during her time at this university; certainly he had loved almost every minute of it so far himself.

"Hey, you finally got a car then!" a slightly mocking voice called out to him as he locked the vehicle. He turned and grinned as Andy and some of their other course mates approached.

"Hey guys," he smiled, throwing his bag over his shoulder as he walked over to them, "how were your summers?"

The group chatted amiably about how they had spent their breaks; several had met up with High School friends or hooked up with former girlfriends for a while. Freddie seemed alone in having spent the summer in LA though, as he pointed out, his job and his girl were here – pretty much his _life_ was – so why would he want to be anywhere else? He shot a shrewd glance at Gary as he explained this; his friend's words the previous term about having some "fun that his girlfriend need never know about" came to mind with the talk of past girls (even for the ones who were dating a girl at UCLA too); he still had not changed his position on the matter.

The morning was spent getting their new timetables and having the faculty staff outline the courses that they would be studying this semester; it was a fairly relaxed time for the returning sophomores so Freddie kept one eye on his phone, waiting for word from the others about when he might be able to meet up with them.

"So what are you doing for lunch?" Andy asked as the last part of their morning session drew to a close.

"I'm waiting on Tori to find out when I can meet up with her and the others," he explained.

"Seeing your girl? I'd think you'd see enough of her on an evening," Tim, one of Freddie's other friends from his course joked.

"I can _never_ see too much of Tori," he insisted, smiling a little as he was well aware that there were different ways that his words could be interpreted; he also suppressed a small grin at seeing more than he had bargained for of Jade that morning too. "How about you guys?"

"Pool at Cooperage sounds good," Andy commented, "It's been a while since I said hi to your girl." He, of course, knew her fairly well from working with Freddie on class projects during the previous year.

"Oh we were going to head to Kerckhoff," noted Tim; Phil and Gary nodded next to him. "Check out some of the girls around there," he added with a grin.

"Enjoy," Freddie told them warmly. "I'm just waiting on Tori's call. Oh," he received an incoming text and scanned it quickly, "there it is; they should be there in a few minutes," then he smirked briefly, "assuming they don't get lost on the way. They _shouldn't_, Tori's been here often enough before. Let's go?"

His friend nodded and the two made the short walk across campus.

"Hey, how was your morning?" he greeted Tori with a kiss as she, Beck and Jade arrived a minute after he did.

"Oh it was great, there's so much to remember though," the brunette gushed as she started talking through all the things that they'd been shown.

"Dude, please," Jade interrupted, "it was bad enough sitting through it _once_ without going over it all again." This drew appreciative chuckles from the others and a pout from her friend; Freddie took her hand gently and lifted it up to kiss the back of it softly. The mollified girl smiled at her man's little gesture.

"So, food first or some pool?" he asked, glancing around the group.

"Pool," jade decided simply, picking up a cue and heading to a table.

"Sounds good to me," Beck shrugged and followed his girlfriend. Andy looked on awkwardly, realising that he was going to be the odd man out in the group, stood as he was with two couples.

"I'll get something to eat," the short, black-haired boy told his friend.

"Ok," Tori smiled in thought for a second. "Oh, and you might want to chat to that little blonde over there while you're getting food; she was totally checking you out just now," and nodded in the direction of a small knot of girls stood around; the girl in question was stood just to the side of the group and cast another quick glance in the group's direction before quickly looking away as they caught her. "Told you," she smiled.

"It _would_ be rude not to say hello," he joked; Freddie nodded encouragingly before getting cues for himself and his girl while Beck finished racking up the balls.

* * *

"Was it a good talk then? You never came back," Freddie's tone was teasing as he spoke to his friend at the start of their first afternoon lecture. It was true; Andy hadn't returned from going to talk to the blonde girl and was nowhere to be found when the quartet left after their game and having picked up some subs for lunch.

"You could say that, though I couldn't possibly comment," Andy replied smugly. "Us gentlemen don't kiss and tell now do we," he laughed.

"So are you seeing her again?"

"Tonight," he confirmed, "We're meeting up pretty much straight after we finish here."

"Have fun," Freddie told him sincerely.

"I hope to," his friend laughed.

Across campus Beck and Jade sat together in their classroom; both were majoring in acting and drama, though Jade was taking plenty of supplementary music and singing classes to keep that avenue open as well. Tori, meanwhile, was alone in her class for today, doing – as she was – the reverse of Jade's plan; the lighter brunette was majoring in music and singing and making up credits with acting classes in anticipation of expanding her career into TV appearances or movies on the back of her name recognition from her first album and, she hoped, mini-tour when it began later in the month.

One of the male students, having just arrived, spied the empty seat next to her and slid into it. "Hi," he grinned, flashing her a nervy smile.

"Hello," she returned, politely but a little cautiously before listening to the blond newcomer begin a monologue about first-day nerves, how incredible it was to _finally_ be at college after the years of school, what he was looking forward to and a million-and-one other things that caused her to tune out altogether until she finally realised, just before the lecturer entered the room, that he had stopped talking and was looking expectantly at her.

"Oh sorry, what was that last part?"

"I was asking," the blond boy sounded rather put out at losing her attention but he was determined to try anyway, "whether you wanted to get a coffee or something after we were done here."

"Oh, I can't; I'm meeting my boyfriend and other friends after."

"Oh…" he disguised his disappointment at the disclosure, "you two came here together then?"

"Uh no, I met him… well, it's kind of a long story but anyway; he's a sophomore – and one of the reasons why I chose UCLA over USC or any of the other schools I could have gone for."

Undeterred, the boy continued to talk until their teacher called the class to order and began going through what they would be covering over the duration of the course; Tori made copious notes (most of which she would likely never need to refer to again, but it did mean she could ignore her persistent neighbour).

"Alright," the teacher clapped his hands. "Now, I know it's the first day and the first class but this is a chance for you to mingle. You have two minutes to find a partner for a duet _or_ you can decide to work as a soloist for the duration of the course. Unless there are _exceptional_ circumstances, however, you may not change your decision once it is made," he cautioned.

"You want to duet?" the eager blond asked Tori the second the teacher stopped talking, as a general murmur began to sweep the students; one or two stood and began walking around to talk to some more of their classmates.

"Actually, I'm going to go solo," the brunette replied, "I'll be solo for my tour this month so I need to practice singing on my own." She had, of course, had plenty of practice of that already but felt it was a nicer way of phrasing it than "no, now quit bugging me" would have been. She hid a smirk as she reflected that the latter would almost certainly have been Jade's way of dealing with the unwanted attention.

"You have a tour," he asked in surprise before looking, _really_ looking at her. "Wait, you sang at the PMAs – and then the anthem when…"

"Oh my God, you saw that as well?" she snapped, shaking her head at the memory.

"Well for the record I thought you were really good – at both of them."

"Oh, thanks," the somewhat mollified girl accepted his praise.

* * *

"Well, I'll see you the next time we have this class," her not-entirely-wanted friend told Tori as they left after the class; the singer-actress would have a better time of it in her next lecture as she, Jade and Beck would all be together in it. She smiled at the thought and, after carefully consulting her map, made her way to the correct room; she smiled as she saw her housemates already ensconced in their seats. Tori had to suppress the desire to outright start laughing as she saw the three coffee cups sat in front of Jade.

"Are you expecting this guy to send you to sleep?" she joked as she took the seat next to the pale girl; Jade looked up, realising that she had arrived before turning and smiling at her array of cups.

"You know me and coffee," she shrugged.

"I could have done with some to throw over this guy in my last class," she complained uncharitably before supplying the other two with details.

"It sounds like he was just being nice," Beck defended the boy he'd never met.

"Oh come on, he was totally trying to hit on me, even _after_ I mentioned my _boyfriend_."

The other brunette chuckled softly at her friend's discomfort though further discourse was curtailed by the lecturer's appearance and the beginning of the course.

"What do you want to do?" Tori asked them as they were instructed to get into groups of three. "I mean, we all know each other and know we can work together but do you want to stick as a group or get to know some of the others and work with them?"

"Good point," Jade conceded. "It _would_ make sense to work with some other people and become more comfortable with people we don't know and haven't worked with before, but maybe to begin with stick with the three of us and change the groups for later assignments?"

Beck agreed with his girlfriend's suggestion so the trio stayed where they were and waited for their first scene.

"Alright," the teacher called after distributing a sheet of paper, detailing the characters to be portrayed along with the scene that they were to perform, to each group. "You have between now and next class to prepare your scenes. That is…" he consulted his timetable, "Wednesday afternoon. You will all perform them during Wednesday's class," he reiterated.

"No problem," muttered Jade; she knew that they had huge advantages over the rest of the group and fully expected the three of them to have a great scene together by the end of the day. Her two colleagues smiled their agreement at her observation. The teacher gave the class the remainder of the period to begin planning their scene.

"So what do we have to do?" Beck asked, leaning over Jade's shoulder to read the document. "It can be done as a comedy or a drama," he began out loud. "A criminal fleeing the scene of the crime. One character should be an eye-witness, one the criminal. The third could be a victim or a police officer."

"We'll make it a murder; Tori, you be the dead body," Jade grinned.

"You know," the half-Latina began before stopping at Jade's widening smirk.

"I can _still_ get a rise," she sat back in her chair with a satisfied smile on her face while Tori just frowned.

* * *

"So, how was your first day as a college girl?" Freddie asked after meeting up with Tori and the others by his car.

"It was fun," she smiled before dropping it for a moment, "apart from one guy hitting on me and Jade trying to kill me," she added. Freddie looked to the gothic girl for confirmation.

"Only in a play," Jade shrugged.

"Anyway," Beck chimed in, "we have this scene to write and perfect before Wednesday. We should try and get it done tonight so it's out of the way?" he suggested. The girls agreed.

"How about you, Freddie, how was your day?" his girl asked as they drove home.

"Not as exciting as yours by the sound of it," he laughed, "just caught up with the guys and got back into the swing of things. It's going to get more busy, _a lot_ more busy, in the next couple of weeks though when we start the new projects."

"Well, we'll make the most of the time we have between now and then," Tori rested her left hand on top of his right, which was wrapped around the shift stick, "and I won't have to feel so guilty when I need to devote more time to my gigs."

"What should we do for dinner, guys?" Freddie asked his passengers as they left campus.

"BF Wangs?" Jade suggested.

"Sounds good to me," Beck agreed.

"Sure, let's do it," the driver turned the car in the direction of the restaurant so the new freshmen could celebrate surviving their first day at university.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you next time with another chapter. PD.**


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to my latest chapter in this story. I had hoped to get it done sooner but a lot of stuff, particularly **_**A Place To Call Home**_**, got in the way. I hope you enjoy it anyway.**

**My thanks as always to those of you who read and reviewed the last chapter:**

**Challenge King, yes that was an awkward moment for Freddie but I hope it amused some people. It's the sort of thing that can easily happen in a shared house.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88, people are bugging Tori and Jade wants to 'hurt' her. Some things will never change. As for the tar pit and the shower… as I said to Challenge King, these things can happen.**

**Pbow – some very good points and thank you for going into further detail with me about it; I'll see if I can find a way to incorporate 'extra-curricular activities' into their course.**

**Agent-M – yes, another of Freddie's friends is happy with a girl. Quite a few of them seem to need to grow up with the way they've behaved; Andy seems a little more mature and level-headed right now. As for Tori playing nice – maybe, but she's got a solo tour and is more comfortable working alone or with a close friend. Maybe in time she'll want to 'play nice' with a classmate.**

**Jeremy Shane – thanks and here is some more.**

* * *

Chapter 5

_University of California Los Angeles _

_675 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA_

_Wednesday, 5__th__ September 2012__._

Tori, Beck and Jade sat together in the front row of the theatre; the three were in a relaxed mood ahead of their scene – a complete contrast to most of the other students. They did, of course, have two huge advantages (knowing one another so well and their past experience of acting and improvising).

The past two evenings had seen substantial squabbling over the content of the scene – mostly between Tori and Jade; the darker brunette was trying to inflict awkward moments on her housemate wherever possible. She was disappointed to see that Beck continually took Tori's side and reined her in on her ideas, asking her to try and be nicer to her friend.

"Ok, how about this," Jade had suggested finally by way of a compromise on Monday evening, "we'll borrow a blonde wig or something and you can play the victim – because we _need_ somebody to and I'm the criminal with Beck as my accomplice so there's no choice really – but then you'll also be the cop who ends up catching us."

"Sure," Tori agreed.

"After getting a bit of a beat-down," Jade added with a smirk.

Tori rolled her eyes. "More stage fighting," she muttered.

"If you're lucky," the gothic girl's tone was impish.

The script was finished that evening, though a few minor tweaks were suggested and argued the following night. Eventually, though, they had rehearsed the scene to the point where they all knew it by heart and were delighted with how it looked. They had performed it in front of Freddie; the tech wizard had enjoyed it and supplied a little feedback in terms of improvements that he could think of. Some were added and the final version was ready to go.

"Alright," their teacher called above the students' hubbub, "which group wants to go first."

"We will," Jade called, standing up and heading for the stage without waiting to be invited to do so. The other students in the class looked surprised at her directness – as, a little, did the teacher. Beck and Tori followed their co-star a moment later.

"I guess it's this group then, uh… Miss Vega," like a lot of others he recognised Tori from the PMAs and the 'National Anthem debacle', "Miss West and Mister Oliver." As an acting teacher at a college that was used to an annual influx of Hollywood Arts alumni he attended performances at the school on a regular basis to run the rule over potential students so he knew of Tori's friends as well.

The scene, predictably, was a hit; there were enough laughs to entertain the audience and the right amount of drama to carry it through the death of the victim, the criminals' plot to escape and them being tracked down by the cop. Their classmates applauded, although the general look was one of intimidation as the other students mentally compared their own work to what they had just witnessed.

"An excellent performance," the teacher enthused, "and very impressive that you could put it together in just 48 hours. Take your seats please."

The trio sat through the rest of the class, politely applauding the efforts of the others, though recognising that they were a long way off the standard that they themselves had set. It was something the teacher commented upon at the end as he dismissed them.

"Tori, Beck, Jade," he called, "a quick word please?"

When the three were stood in front of him (impatiently in the darker brunette's case) he continued, "I'd like the three of you to work in different groups from now on. Your scene was clearly the best and it would be good for you to share your experience with the other students."

"We intend to," Tori explained, "we just felt that, as we already knew one another and knew we could work together that we would do this time."

"Yes, well the groups won't be so small in the future but as I say, I'll probably ask you three to each lead a group the next time so you can support the others."

"Babysitting," muttered Jade as they left.

"No, _helping_ others," her boyfriend amended.

"Exactly, helping the competition to improve. It's hard enough to make it as it is without giving other people an extra chance," she complained.

Beck sighed loudly, though privately Tori felt that his girl had a point.

_5 Towers, Universal Studios_

_Sunday, 9__th__ September 2012_.

It was the opening night of Tori's first solo tour and the girl was a bundle of nervous energy. She had been able to get front row tickets reserved for her housemates and both Freddie and Jade were excited by the experience (Beck was still filming in Canada and would be for the next few days). She was also glad of the chance to catch up with André again; she hadn't seen much of her songsmith friend over the last few weeks.

"At least we don't need to worry about trying to get back stage afterwards," Freddie joked to Jade during a brief lull in the volume between songs; of course they had been made known to security beforehand and would be heading over to congratulate the singer once she was done. After about an hour and a half, going through a repertoire of songs that had been built up over her time at Hollywood Arts (many of which had been written by André, as had a couple of the new ones that she was performing) the star performed her finale, _Bad Boys_ (she would have loved to have sung _Make It in America_ but it was owned by Neutronium Records and she, of course, was on the RPX label after Mason refused to sign her following hers and Freddie's little stunt at the PMAs in the Spring). Once she had finished, was safely backstage and the audience were beginning to leave her friend and boyfriend headed past security to congratulate the half-Latina star after her performance.

"That was awesome," he enthused, embracing his girl.

"It was great," Jade smiled; the words didn't seem to stick in her throat at all – she _was_ genuinely pleased for her friend, and not just because of Tori helping her get a leg up with their duet on her album; there was talk of Jade appearing and them performing it as an encore for some of the performances in the future.

"I was just so pumped for it," Tori was talking a lot more quickly than usual, "and then when I got out there and the crowd was so big and they were all cheering," she let out a deep breath and sank into a chair as the adrenaline rush began to wear off. She picked up a bottle of water and took a long swig from it, wiping her brow with the back of her arm as she tried to relax.

"Get over here André," Freddie urged him with a wave' the musician was stood modestly to one side, hands in pockets and wearing a confident smile.

"You did great too," Jade complimented him with a smile.

"Thanks," he returned it and took a seat with them.

"So how have you been?" Freddie asked. "We've not seen too much of you since we moved into our new house and got ready for college and stuff."

"I'm keeping busy," he informed them, "writing songs, trying to record a little after hours; the boss likes some of my demos and might just let me release my own song," the others smiled with delight at the news, though their happiness was tempered with wondering about his own concerned look, "it keeps my mind off other things."

"What's going on?" Tori asked in concern, setting down the now empty water bottle and eyeing her friend with trepidation.

"My grandma," he said; his voice had lost its usual jovial tones. "She's… not good; the doctors don't think she has too long left."

Tori flew from her chair and pulled him into a tight hug. Freddie gave him a sympathetic look while Jade, who knew him better than the Seattle-born, got up, walked to his head and rested a hand uncomfortably on his shoulder.

_420 Dalehurst Avenue, Los Angeles, California_

"Well that put a downer on the evening," Jade remarked to Freddie when they arrived back at home; Tori had headed to the couple's room to drop off her stuff and change before bed.

"Yeah," the brown-haired sophomore agreed, "I mean I knew she had issues but I had no idea that it had got this bad."

"Me either; I guess we – _I_ should have taken more time to ask."

"Hey, we all could have," he remarked softly, not wanting the gothic girl to beat herself up.

"Yeah but I've known him longer than you guys have; you've known him really for like a year, Tori for a couple of years and me, I've known him for more than four years – I should have kept in touch with him more this summer."

Tori bounced down, reinvigorated after returning home and changing into a pale pink nightdress; it came to just above her knees. "Hey hey," she smiled as she took a seat on her boy's lap; he instinctively encircled her waist with his arms and she leaned back against him. "What were you guys talking about?" she pried, seeing Jade looking even more sullen than usual.

"André's grandmother," the darker brunette sighed, "and me feeling that I should have kept in touch better with him this last month or so."

"I know, I feel that too," Tori whined.

"Well maybe we could invite him over one evening next week," Freddie suggested.

"Great idea, I'll suggest it to him," his girlfriend enthused. "I'll text him in the morning," she quietened as she remembered that her phone was upstairs in her room."

"Don't worry Vega, I got this," Jade smirked, pulling out her own phone.

_Monday, 10__th__ September 2012_.

The denizens of the house were preparing to start the second week of term at college; for one girl in particular it was amazing how quickly it had flown by.

"I can't believe that it's _already_ been a week," Tori enthused brightly as she sat at the kitchen table, coffee mug in hand.

"It seems longer to me," Jade added conversationally, "though that might be to do with Beck not being back here yet."

"It sucks that he's up there for so long," Freddie sympathised with the freshman before snaking an arm around his own girlfriend's waist. "At least when this one is on tour she's local and home at night." The brunette rested her head on his shoulder, relaxing into his embrace; their natural comfort and affection caused Jade to lower her eyes a little as it reminded her again of what she was missing while her man was away. She consoled herself in her cup of coffee and tried to be happy for her friends – and ignore the feelings of loneliness and a little jealousy that were welling up within her from their closeness.

_University of California Los Angeles _

_675 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA_

Freddie drove his housemates and himself onto the campus; he dropped the girls near the music department (they were in the same singing class this morning) and headed for his own department. He smiled as he recognised his friend Andy's car and pulled up next to it; his eyes widened as he got out and saw that his friend was still in the car, and wasn't alone – in fact he and a girl, _looks like it's that blonde from the pool hall last week – from what I can see of her_, the tech genius mused with a grin, were crammed into the back seat and engaged in some serious lip lock. It looked uncomfortable to the boy but he doubted either of them cared. Not wishing to pry he turned his back on them and headed for the main building, though as he did he sent his friend a text (fearing that he would lose track of time and miss the lecture).

"Thanks," the still-slightly flushed Andy told him with an embarrassed grin as he took the seat next to him in the lecture theatre; their teacher was just setting up so he hadn't missed anything.

"Well I guess you saw my car next to yours so there's no point denying anything," Freddie shrugged. "I wasn't spying but I did spot you and you looked… busy so I wasn't sure you'd make it to class without assistance," he finished with a teasing smirk.

"You're right, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have," his black-haired friend laughed; the Seattle-born chuckled along with him.

* * *

"Music history… wow I didn't think it'd be that boring," Jade growled as she and Tori left their lecture. "Next Monday I'm skipping that class and spending another hour in bed… especially if Beck's back by then," her eyes flashed wickedly.

"Sounds good; I wonder if I can convince Freddie to skip _his_ first class," Tori's tone was thoughtful.

"The world's most conscientious guy? Good luck with that."

"I'll make him an offer he can't refuse," the lighter brunette retorted with a wicked, knowing look. Jade grinned.

"I've taught you well, Vega," she laughed before they split up for their second class.

* * *

"Tori," her lecturer called her over as her first class of the afternoon were departing; she lingered by the front desks while the rest of her peers, including her 'persistent blond friend' left. The boy had been less of a problem for her this week, having got the message during the previous week that she had a boyfriend.

"Yeah?" she asked when the room had cleared somewhat.

"I was at your performance last night; very impressive."

"Well, thanks," she smiled modestly, feeling a little embarrassed at having a virtual stranger come up to her and compliment her.

"Yes and I _think_ that there may be a way to make it useful for you while we're here," he went on, "it will need some discussion within the department but it wouldn't be the first time that a student has been 'rewarded' for a performance away from the college."

"Well, wow. Anything that helped would be fantastic, obviously."

"Leave it with me and I'll let you know what we can do."

"Great, thanks." She left to meet up with Jade for their next class.

The girls' afternoon finished with another of their acting classes; true to his word the teacher set the two girls as captains of larger teams for the next scene; Beck would be added to the third on his return. They were tasked with performing a pre-written scene (though a degree of adjustment or improvisation would be acceptable if it was deemed necessary) and the girls had to choose roles for their teammates.

"Ok, hi," Tori greeted her colleagues awkwardly. "As most of you know, I'm Tori; we're going to be performing _The Bridge of Fear_ next week and we need to be perfect," she suddenly slipped into a rarely seen firm tone of voice as she set to stamp her authority on the group; it was something else that she had learned from her mean friend and it seemed to surprise the others (obviously they didn't know her well – even though some recognised her from her singing performances – but had come to think of her over the last week as Jade's mild-mannered friend). Quickly and effectively she had assumed control of the team. She began assigning parts to each of them, basing it mostly on her gut and what she had seen of them in their previous performance.

Across the theatre Jade was using similar methods to allocate roles to her own actors; predictably she had assumed control of them far more readily and easily than the half-Latina using a combination of experience, attitude and just a little dash of fear and intimidation.

Class ended and the dark haired girl had a parting shot. "We're meeting in the communal area downstairs tomorrow lunch, one o'clock. _Don't_ be late." She picked up her bag and walked out, texting Tori to arrange a meeting point.

"You could have just _waited_ for me before leaving the theatre," the lighter brunette complained gently when she caught up to her pale-skinned friend.

"I've got a reputation to maintain," Jade commented brusquely, "I'm in charge and they need to know that _that's_ how it is; hovering and waiting for someone would have undermined it."

"Whatever," the other girl shrugged. "Let's just find Freddie at his car and go home."

"Or for coffee."

Tori rolled her eyes and shook her head at the predictable suggestion.

They found Tori's man leaning casually against his car; his head was bowed and he was looking at something on his phone.

"Hey," Tori called jovially as she approached him, arms outstretched. He pulled her into an eager hug and held her close, smiling at Jade too as he saw the other girl over his girlfriend's shoulder.

"Hi girls, how were your days?"

"Fine; I captain a group, they're all scared of me and I want coffee," Jade was blunt and to the point.

Tori laughed and shook her head while her boyfriend just grinned at the girl's bluntness. "I captain a group too; I think I got them to listen to me," the singing star was more circumspect with her summary.

_Jet Brew, __1161 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA_

Tori went to the counter while Freddie and Jade found a free table; the place was pretty busy, mostly with students having the same idea as them. The lighter brunette returned bearing three cups.

"Coffee for Freddie," she set it down by her man, "one for me and a double strength for Jade," she grinned as she furnished the darker brunette girl with the last cup.

"Thanks Tori." She took a sip and smiled as she savoured the drink.

Jade frowned at her phone as the ringtone played; she didn't recognise the number from her caller ID.

"Who are you and how did you get this number?" she demanded upon answering.

"Jade West?" an imposing voice asked on the other end; the teenager confirmed her identity.

"I'm Matt Wilson, a casting director for _Universal Studios_."

"Oh, hello," the other teens looked slightly surprised at their friend adding an unmistakably polite tone to her voice after the curtness of her earlier answer.

"Hello," the director replied. "I'm calling because your name came to us from your performances at _Hollywood Arts_ and some of the work you were looking for over the summer. We believe we have a role that you would suit and would like you to audition."

"What role? When?" she asked, working hard to not sound too excited or keen.

"It's a small role on a new show we're preparing to shoot the pilot for. I won't go into details right now because we want to keep everything under wraps for as long as possible; I'm sure you understand."

"I do. When would you like to see me?" She was smiling broadly; it was a look matched by her eavesdropping housemates.

"Shall we say next Monday at 2 p.m.?"

"I will be there," she confirmed before they rang off; an unusually excited Jade West then went over what details she had with her equally thrilled friends.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading; I hope to update again soon. In the meantime please don't be shy about adding a review and letting me know what you thought of it. PD.**


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Hi everyone and welcome to my new chapter for this story; I hope you all enjoy it. **

**Thanks as always go to those who read and reviewed chapter 5. I believe I responded to everyone that I could already; to the 'Guest' reviewer, you made some valid points; it's not impossible that the three performers will have too many demands on their time for college, though Tori will certainly want to stay close and be around her man.**

**Quick warning – some mature content in this chapter. **

* * *

_Casting Director's Office, Universal Studios_

_100 Universal City Plaza, Los Angeles_

_Monday, 17__th__ September 2012_.

"You seem to be exactly what we're looking for, Miss West," the director enthused as they discussed the gothic girl's audition for a minor, semi-regular character on a new sit-com. She flashed her gorgeous smile at him in delight as it appeared that she was about to be offered her first substantial role; her first step on the long road to being a successful, professional actress. "There's just one thing," he cautioned; her face fell in an instant. "Oh don't worry, we'll be offering you the part," he assured her, "but your skin tone – it's… rather pale for what we envisioned the character to look like – and doesn't really fit with the other members of her family. As a condition of being cast, you _need_ to do some work on your tan before we start filming next month."

"No problem," Jade shrugged. Her skin tone was natural so it wasn't as if it was a part of her image that she was cultivating; _besides_, she mused, _a healthy tan wouldn't go amiss_. The contract was drawn up and signed quickly; the girl had yet to engage an agent and suspected that she was being underpaid for the role but was willing to stomach it for now as the price of establishing herself in the industry. She made a mental note to talk to her boyfriend and her female housemate about it later on. Hands were shaken and the studio informed her that they'd get in touch a day or two before she was needed on set so they could check on the progress of her tanning.

_430 Dalehurst Avenue, Los Angeles_

Figuring that there was no time like the present the aspiring actress decided to skip her remaining classes that day and headed home instead. Having confirmed that nobody else was home (unsurprisingly as they were all at college) she headed straight into the garden, thankful of the high fences that shielded her from the neighbours as she set some towels and cushions on the ground and, in an effort to avoid a tan line, disrobed and applied some sunblock before lying down to soak up a few rays. The girl set the timer on her pear phone for half an hour, intending to turn over at that point in order to tan more evenly and not get too much sun exposure too quickly.

The timer sounded and the mean girl set another 30 minutes or so on it before she squeezed another handful of sunblock from the bottle, reapplying it and turning over; she closed her eyes again and smiled. _This isn't so bad a way to spend an afternoon_, the girl thought.

Jade groaned as the timer went again; she was _far_ too comfortable out there but knew that her housemates would soon be back. The teenager dressed again, gathered up the various objects she had brought to the garden and headed back inside.

"Hey," Beck called as he entered the house a minute or so after she did.

"Hi babe," she smiled.

"We missed you in class this afternoon."

"Yeah I blew it off after the audition," she battled to suppress a grin as his face fell.

"Oh, well there'll be other opportunities and it's all good experience to do auditions," he sympathised as Tori and Freddie came through the door behind him; the other couple traded a glance at hearing the Canadian actor's words.

"Why would I look for another opportunity; I got this one," she grinned happily, stunning her man.

Tori gave something between a cheer and a scream and flung herself on the other girl. Despite her discomfort at being hugged Jade accepted it as she knew how excited her fellow brunette was for her.

"Oh you're all… sticky," the half-Latina observed as she released her friend.

"Yeah they told me to work on my tan; that's why I blew off this afternoon," she addressed the last point to Beck. "I have a bit of time before filming starts so I'll keep on with it."

"So did they talk money at all?" her boyfriend asked her before eyeing the other couple a little uncomfortably. "I mean, if you'd rather not say then…" but she interrupted him.

"No, no, it was actually something I wanted to ask the pair of you about since you already have deals," and she revealed the figure she had agreed to; Beck pulled a face.

"You should be getting more than that. _I_ am, but then again I'm playing one of the central characters," he conceded.

"Yeah but we have to start somewhere," Tori backed her up.

"And the profile you get from it will add to your earning potential later," Freddie added.

"That was what I figured," she nodded to the tech producer, "it's not massive money but it's a start."

_University of California Los Angeles _

_675 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA_

_Monday, 24__th__ September 2012__._

Freddie, Tori and Jade had left for college alone this morning; Beck would not be back until later on in the day and had already been told that he would need to be in Canada for the whole of the following week due to filming commitments. The actor had contacted one of his tutors to discuss the situation, fearing that he would fall too far behind with his courses and wondering whether he should simply defer his course until a later date – or even drop out altogether if he continued to be busy with work opportunities; they would be discussing the situation later on in the week.

"What do you think he'll do?" Tori asked as they walked into their faculty building for the first lecture of the week. She let out a fatigued sigh of her own, having performed two concerts over the weekend she was feeling a little weary herself; it was something that wasn't lost on Jade as she considered how her own job could affect things at college.

"I'm guessing he'll defer for now," the still-pale girl disclosed. "He seemed to be leaning in that direction when we were talking about it last week. All this racing back and forth and still missing a lot of classes… sooner or later it becomes pointless him even being here."

Tori nodded before a thought struck her. "But if he drops out then won't he just end up spending even _more_ time up there?"

"He'll spend a while up there, that's for sure, but hopefully once they're done with filming he'll be back for a while."

"It means you'd see even less of him though," the singer pointed out.

"I know," her friend noted sadly. "They wouldn't have the rush to get his scenes filmed so they'd spread them out with the rest of the filming over the week; he might get here for a weekend here and there but he'd be up there for a few _months_ with it."

"What would _you_ do?"

"If I start filming down here, what _can_ I do?" Jade half-snapped before taking a calming breath. "Sorry, it's not your fault but you're asking all the things I don't want to think about the answers to," she sighed as they slid into their seats in the back row of the lecture theatre and began to get their things from their bags.

It was a difficult lecture for the girls; Tori did her best to take notes and stay interested but her thoughts continued to be drawn to the troubles that were afflicting, and threatening to intensify for, her friend. Jade, meanwhile, now that she was thinking about her relationship and the potential for spending yet _more_ time apart from her man, was even more distracted; she stared towards the front with a glazed look while the lecturer's voice and words washed over her.

"I'm going to have to borrow your notes," she told Tori as they left.

"Of course," the slightly taller girl then grinned, "just remember I'm not Braydon; I won't run away peeing when I ask for them back and you glare at me!"

"Are you sure about that?" Jade challenged wickedly, albeit with a smile, and the two shared a laugh before parting company and heading for their next classes.

_430 Dalehurst Avenue, Los Angeles_

"I'm worried about Jade," Tori told her boyfriend as they cuddled together in bed that night.

"You mean with Beck being away so much?" he asked.

"Well partly," and she explained some of what they had talked about. "I just think they'll struggle to keep it together for long if he's up there all the time and she's down here. I've been there before when they split up and I think it would break her heart if it happened again," the brunette whispered in a fearful tone.

"Then I guess they'll ultimately have to make a choice if it comes to it – relationship or careers. We have to hope, for their sakes, that it never reaches that stage," Freddie pulled her closer.

"I know; it's why I didn't want to 'tour' as such and stayed close instead."

"And I'm grateful," he kissed her softly on the lips. "And next summer, when you're on tour for your second album," he smiled, "I'll take at least part of the summer off and come along with you."

"Sounds good to me; tours can be stressful so my own, personal stress reliever will help," she grinned, returning his kiss and melting into his arms.

_Casting Director's Office, Universal Studios_

_100 Universal City Plaza, Los Angeles_

_Monday, 1__st__ October 2012_.

The studio had called Jade back to see them; it was a few days before filming was due to start and the casting team wanted to check on her progress.

"Hi Jade, how are you?"

"Good thanks; I'm looking forward to starting filming next week." Her face fell a little as the director looked closely at her; the dark haired girl was beginning to feel very nervous.

"Right. There's… a problem though, one of his assistants began, "your tan… it's better but still not quite what we had in mind. Maybe you could help it along?"

"Self-tan?" she asked cautiously, instantly casting her mind back to the summer.

"I think at this point it's the only way," the director agreed.

"I guess I could give it a go."

"Just be careful that you follow the instructions _to the letter_," she was warned, "we want _tanned_ not orange."

"Oh don't worry, I know about the dangers of the stuff," she smirked as she mentally looked back on that day.

* * *

_430 Dalehurst Avenue_

_Wednesday, 29__th__ August 2012_.

The two couples were sat in the back garden of their rented property enjoying the warm summer weather as they counted down the days to the new academic year. The tranquil afternoon was shattered by the peals of Jade's pear phone; she inspected the caller ID before answering in a bright, relaxed tone.

"Hey Cat, how's the new place?"

"Jade," the voice was less familiar to the gothic girl but she recognised it as her best friend's new roommate.

"Melanie?" The gothic girl's three housemates turned to her in surprise at her mention of the name.

"Yeah, uh Cat's kinda freaking out here and I really don't know how to calm her. I figured you have more experience of it so if you could help then…"

"Ok, ok, what's happened?" the gothic girl asked.

"Well…"

The foursome had rushed round to their friends' new apartment; during the trip Jade had filled the others in on what Melanie had told her but they were all still rather sceptical about the severity of the situation – until they saw the red-haired girl.

"Hey Cat, whoa," Tori was unable to hide the shock at the sight of the cupcake-loving teen bearing a distinctly unnatural glow.

"What happened?" Freddie asked; his voice was a blend of sympathy and curiosity.

"I was trying to give myself a nice tan," Cat explained sadly. "I got this stuff from the store and read the label – this time I followed all the instructions," she addressed Tori as the Hollywood Arts alumni simultaneously thought back to the zombie make-up disaster that threatened to mar the opening night of _Uptown, Downtown_ in their sophomore year. "I put it on but then I got distracted by a _Girly Cow_ marathon on TV and forgot to wash it off after half an hour."

"How long did you leave it on your skin?" pressed Jade.

"About four hours," she admitted sheepishly.

"Four – four _hours_?" her friend repeated, shaking her head. "No wonder you look like a mutant orange." Beck pinched the top of his nose; as usual he felt that his girlfriend was being unnecessarily blunt with her observation. Cat's face fell, causing the darker haired girl to relent a little. "At least you almost match your hair now," she smirked. Cat smiled weakly in response.

"Do you think they'll still want me to audition for _Snow White_?" she asked in a small voice; the girl had been invited to try out for the part in a stage adaptation, _A Snow White Christmas_, which the Lythgoe family company would be putting on at the Pasadena Playhouse over the festive season.

"I uh… I think they might find it a bit of an issue unless it will definitely have faded and gone by then," Tori conceded sadly, patting the shorter girl's shoulder sympathetically; the red velvet-haired girl's face fell further. "It should have done – hopefully," she added in an attempt to support her friend.

"I know what'll cheer you up," Freddie somehow kept a straight face. "We could all go for a game of glow-in-the-dark-minigolf tonight," he suggested.

Tori shot her boy a look while she worked hard to stop the corners of her mouth turning up; Jade tried and failed to glare at him. Melanie, meanwhile, buried her face in a tissue, pretending that her hay fever was troubling her; in reality she was troubled by the desire to laugh at his proposal. Even Beck had to turn his laugh into a hacking cough.

"Yay, I love baby golf!" Cat cried excitedly, oblivious to the reactions of the others. "I can't wait for it to get dark," he told the gathering happily; they just looked weakly at her as she dashed to her room to get her pink putter and resigned themselves to an evening on the miniature golf course.

"Where do I get one of those?" Melanie demanded as she saw Cat's club.

"Well…" the red-head began brightly as she smiled happily at her roommate; Jade rolled her eyes.

* * *

"Don't worry," the dark brunette reiterated to the production staff with a self-assured smirk, "I know about what can happen with this stuff if you don't use it properly; I'll make sure I do it right."

_**Twitflash:**__ Jade West: Few things more awkward than that half hour after you self-tan where you have to walk around the house naked without touching anything._

_430 Dalehurst Avenue_

After a brief stop at Walgreen's to pick up a bottle of self-tan Jade again chose to blow off the afternoon's classes and to make a start on topping up her tan. The gothic girl cut through her bedroom and into the en suite where she set the bottle on the counter and removed her clothes. She read the label once more, making sure that she knew _exactly_ what she needed to do, and dug in the pocket of her discarded jeans for her phone, setting the timer for 35 minutes (a little longer than it said but this way she wouldn't need to touch the phone again after setting it). She put the phone on the dresser in the bedroom so that she would hear it from wherever in the house she was (as she didn't intend to just stand in the bathroom for the next half-hour.

Returning to the bathroom she began to spray the cool aerosol from the base of her ankles (she had been told that it wasn't necessary for her feet to be tanned, which would help her to be able to get around while waiting for it to dry). She shivered involuntarily at the feel of it impacting on her warm skin as she worked her way up one leg and down the other, front and back before she turned her attention to the rest of her body, arms and neck. She smoothed it over her skin, doing the best that she could with her back and wishing that Beck was here to help her with it, and checked her appearance in the mirror; the tone looked to be pretty even and she smiled her approval before turning around and looking over her shoulder as best as she could to ensure her back was also an even colour.

"And now we wait," she muttered, sighing at the feeling that it was going to be a long half-hour where she tried to avoid touching or really _doing_ anything.

Mindful of how much it would cost to replace the carpets in the house if she stained them the girl spread her towel on the floor and gingerly stepped on it, walking on the spot for a few moments before looking down; there was no sign of any discolouration and her feet were still appreciably paler than the rest of her. Jade sighed with relief that the tanning liquid hadn't run at all; she crossed the carpeted floor of her bedroom and made her way downstairs, keeping an eye out behind for any hint of footprints.

The dark-haired girl was relieved when she reached the first floor and entered the kitchen; its floor would be far easier to clean if it _did_ get stained. She tore off a piece of kitchen roll and used it to protect the coffee pot from her stained hands as she prepared a fresh pot for herself and the others (if she left them any!) and paced the kitchen while she waited for it to brew. She carefully poured herself a cup of the steaming liquid and, taking a second piece of paper towel, cradled the cup in her hands as she sipped her beverage; the actress smirked as she the thought _if only the others could see me now_ drifted through her head.

"Hello?" She froze as she heard the front door open and Freddie's voice.

"Jade?" Tori's followed it. "Are you there? How did it go with the director?"

"Oh!" she met Freddie's eyes as he spotted her from across the living area. "Hi," he continued weakly, suddenly studying his shoes in embarrassment.

"What's the matter – ah," Tori had joined her man and she, too, was greeted by the sight of Jade. "I uh… I guess they felt you needed a bit more of a tan."

"Yeah," she confirmed, shuffling out of the couple's line of sight in an attempt to alleviate the awkward atmosphere descending on the house. "And I didn't really want to spend half-an-hour stuck in the bathroom. I didn't think you'd be home so soon."

"Class finished, we got to the car quickly and traffic was light so we made good time," the singing star explained.

The timer sounded on Jade's phone; she could faintly hear it from the living area and she smiled.

"I guess that's my cue to get this stuff off of me," she noted, still peering round the corner at them.

"Yes," Tori grinned wickedly as a thought occurred that allowed amusement to overtake embarrassment, "please go take a shower."

"Quit telling me what to do," the self-tanned girl fired back without missing a beat.

"Uh, girls?" Freddie looked awkwardly at the exchange as his eyes flicked from his girlfriend to the other girl's face (still the only part of her that he could see); he was surprised when they both started laughing at the look on his face.

"Relax, Freddie," his girl gave him a kiss on the cheek, "that was one of our first on-stage exchanges during one of Sikowitz's improv classes," she explained.

"Yeah, it seemed appropriate given the situation," Jade agreed.

"But maybe you _should_ take that shower before you end up looking like Cat did," the lighter brunette reminded her housemate.

"Oh crap, you're right," Jade raced upstairs; Freddie tried not to look at her rear as she flew past them while Tori's eyes lingered a fraction of a second too long. The couple looked at one another; both wore awkward expressions on their faces at what they had just witnessed.

The dark haired girl returned after around half-an-hour; Tori was preparing a fresh pot of coffee after the couple had finished the previous one (knowing that life wouldn't be worth living if they didn't refresh the house's caffeine supply).

"So you're _finally_ dressed around my man," Tori smirked, harking back to the pair's encounter in Tori and Freddie's bathroom a month or so earlier and back in control of her thoughts and emotions. "Would you mind keeping it that way?" she chided lightly.

"I don't hear _him_ complaining," Jade grinned back; both girls looked at the fetching shade of crimson that the sophomore had turned and the self-tanned girl chuckled at his growing discomfort.

"I'm going to get some take-out for dinner," his tone was still awkward. "What do you girls want?"

"Chinese?" Tori suggested.

"Works for me," Jade agreed.

"You girls place the call and I'll go collect," he smiled, heading out of the front door. He let out a long, tense breath as he got behind the wheel of his car, closing his eyes and shaking his head as he tried to banish one particular picture from his mind.

Inside Tori was setting out plates and cutlery for the trio.

"You want some water?" Jade asked.

"Sure, you can set some out. I'm going to freshen up before Freddie gets back."

The lighter brunette made it to the sanctuary of the couple's bathroom. She closed the door and leaned against it, letting out a long sigh and trying not to dwell on a particular picture in her mind.

* * *

**AN: So, OneHorseShay dared me to try and incorporate that sort of scene after Liz tweeted about self-tan a few weeks ago (it's the tweet I 'borrowed' for Jade to use in this chapter). I hope it met his expectations, and that the rest of you enjoyed it too; please feel free to let me know.**


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of this little story; I hope you are all well.**

**As ever at this point I want to thank everyone who read and reviewed last time; I hope you all liked it, especially **_**that**_** scene (you all know the one…)**

**Challenge King – I'm glad you liked it. I think those two would certainly look to help out a friend and let her know that they were there to support her when she was feeling lonely or down about Beck's absence. As for their reactions to seeing quite a lot of Jade… I can't say I blame them for it.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – An OT3? Well there may be scope for some fun between them all in an AU later on in this (or maybe it'll work its way into the story itself somewhere, who knows?) As for Bade, yes they have to figure things out or resign themselves to some time apart.**

**One Horse Shay – It may come to that for Beck and Jade; career or relationship. That's a tough one. As for the point of college – that will come to a head for Beck very soon.**

**Agent-M – I'm glad you liked it. Time's a little tough for Jade right now; she has friends who will hopefully help her through it.**

**That's everyone, on with the show.**

* * *

Chapter 7

_Friday, 16__th__ November 2012_.

"WHERE IS SHE?" the man yelled; his nose inches from the terrified girl's.

"I don't know," Tori whimpered desperately.

The man's hand swung and the dull smack of flesh on flesh echoed around the small, dimly lit room. The brunette's face jerked to the side and she raised her left hand to her right cheek.

"I will not ask you again," he growled murderously. "Tell me where she IS!"

"I told you, I don't know!" Tori's voice was tiny and she was trembling; the singing sensation found herself desperately wishing that Freddie was with her.

The man swung his hand back, generating another thump as the half-Latina's head jerked the other way. She lifted her right hand and touched the cheek; looking at her fingers she could see a red smear of blood that had come from her face where she had touched it. Her captor drew a handgun from his jacket and levelled it at her forehead.

"I'm going to count to three and you are going to tell me what I want to know before I get there." There was no emotion in his voice; on the contrary he possessed a maniacal calm.

"One," the gun inched closer to her head. "Two," the tip was a fraction from her skin.

"I keep telling you, I don't know," the girl wailed desperately.

"Three." He pulled the trigger; a gun-shot echoed around the room, causing all present to involuntarily jump a little before the brunette slumped back in her chair.

"And CUT!" called the director in elation. "That was awesome, guys. Tori, you're sure you've never been a hostage or a kidnap victim before."

"My roommate has suggested it but no," she replied enthusiastically, albeit with a wry smile at some of Jade's 'semi-serious' suggestions from bygone days. "I just found myself wishing for my boyfriend to be here and tried to tap into the fear of thinking I'd never see him again."

"Well it worked," the 'gunman' told her with a smile. "You were fantastic. It's a shame we had to kill you really."

"Thanks, I guess…" she trailed off a little awkwardly.

"It's true," the director's note carried the faintest hint of regret. "If we hadn't cast all the parts already and shot quite a bit of it then I'd be campaigning for you to have a bigger and better role. As it is I'll _definitely_ be recommending that we hire you in the future for some of our movies."

"Well, thanks," she smiled, pleased to have made such a positive impression.

The studio had called her agent a few weeks ago; they needed a teenage girl for a small role in a new movie following a slight rewrite during filming and, with her resume from Hollywood Arts and her profile from both the Platinum Music Awards and her on-going mini-tour, they had decided on Tori Vega for the part. She played the heroine's daughter and, as the scene had shown, she was kidnapped in an effort to draw the star out into the open and was killed when she couldn't or wouldn't reveal her mother's location to the bad guys.

"Maybe we can use her in some flash-backs in the rest of the series?" one of the production staff suggested. "You know, while her mom's on the whole vengeance kick she thinks back on her daughter – maybe she appears to her in a dream to get her off the revenge path?"

"We can pitch it to the writers and moneymen, sure," the director agreed. "But for now," he turned to the teenager and offered his hand; she shook it, "we have to say thank you, goodbye and that we hope to see you again soon. And we'll get the special effects guys on the scene; y'know, bullet-hole in your head, cut on your cheek where he 'drew blood', it'll be great."

"Thank you for the opportunity," the girl was genuine in her appreciation; she then left the set and headed back to the dressing rooms to get ready to leave.

_430 Dalehurst Avenue, Los Angeles_.

"Hey babe, how was it?" Freddie called from the kitchen as his tired girlfriend walked through the front door.

"Oh, y'know," she shrugged, "I got kidnapped and shot in the head; had to fake being slapped around, usual stuff," she finished with a smile.

"So your big movie debut really ends with your character being killed off?" Jade asked as she slipped out of Beck's embrace and walked over to her friend.

"Yeah but they're hoping to bring her back in the sequel if they can," and she began to explain what had been suggested.

"Well it sounds as if they liked you at least," the Canadian actor spoke up, "that's half the battle; the studio should call you for some other stuff with a bit of luck."

"Yeah, it's all profile-building," Freddie added.

"They kill you and still want you in the next movie; some people get the breaks," Jade was happy for her friend yet couldn't keep the faintest hint of resentment from her tone at things working out perfectly yet again for the starlet.

The darker brunette couldn't _really_ complain though; her own career was starting to gather pace as her role in the sitcom expanded. From starting as a bit-part character they had decided that they liked what they saw of her acting and on-screen demeanour; the call had been made to increase her screen-time episode on episode and she had already been signed, at an improved rate, for the second series of the show (something that the network had provisionally agreed to, though it would, of course, depend on ratings when the show aired in the following Spring). For now Jade was able to continue to work the filming around her college work, along with a little singing here and there (she had joined Tori for her encore after last weekend's concert and they had wowed the crowds with their duet). Beck, however, was reaching the point where a decision really had to be made.

"I saw my tutor again today," he revealed wearily as the quartet sat around the kitchen table eating a couple of Freddie's meticulously prepared pizzas, "and I really am missing too much time. There's no way, unless I stop filming _now_, that I'm going to be able to pass the semester."

"Well you can't just quit your first starring role," the tech genius argued.

"He's right," his girlfriend backed him up, "college will be here later but if you quit now then you run the risk of being black-balled." Her eyes met with Jade's as they both flashed back to the conversation on the subject that they had shared a few years earlier.

"Yeah Beck," Jade turned to her man, "it's the dream of _all_ of us who were at Hollywood Arts to make it in the biz; you can't throw that away for a college degree."

"I know," he conceded, "but like we discussed it would mean a lot more time when I wasn't here, where we were apart. I'd miss you," he finished softly, giving the girl a gentle peck on the lips.

"I'll miss you two babe but we always knew there'd have to be sacrifices if we were to make it. I love you; we'll be good."

"I love you too."

Freddie and Tori exchanged looks at the other couple's exchange; even as housemates it seemed awkward for them to witness such a tender and private interlude. They were also sharing looks of slight relief that their own relationship wasn't being tested in such a way; Tori's profile from the PMAs meant that she had called enough of the shots to work around staying in LA while she built her music profile. A nationwide tour was planned for the following summer – during the summer break, which meant that Freddie could accompany her. She had mentioned his talents with technical wizardry to the studio and there was even the possibility that he could land a job on that side of things while on the road with them (he would be called in for an 'audition' during one of the rehearsals for the girl's last gig this weekend).

"So you guys all think I should drop out then?" Beck asked over coffee.

"You have to do what's right for you," Freddie replied even-handedly, "but you need to decide if it's worth being in college or whether you're better off working in the field you actually want to be in. Heck, if I landed my dream job now with the chance to work my way up then I'd quit college; on-the-job training would be way more useful than another two-and-a-half years in school."

"I guess," the freshman responded weakly, before turning back to his girlfriend. "I just hate the idea of being away for weeks on end while we finish filming."

"I'll be here when you get back," Jade shrugged. "I wish I could come and visit you but my hands will be full with my workload in and out of college."

"And keeping your 'tan' topped up?" Freddie grinned.

"Yeah, I need to reapply on days that you're not around," she laughed. Beck looked a little uncomfortable as the other three shared a small, slightly embarrassed grin at the memory of that day.

* * *

"Freddie, have you got a minute?" Beck called; Jade had headed up to bed a couple of minutes ago and he and Tori were about to go too. The light brunette paused on the stairs before her boyfriend waved her up.

"Go on, I'll be up in a minute."

"What would _you_ do," Beck began without preamble. "I know you said you'd quit for the right job, but what if that job was in Boston or somewhere? Somewhere where you'd be miles from Tori and might never see her for weeks on end."

The former Seattle native frowned and gave a deep sigh. "I can't answer that," he admitted. "Tori risked quite a lot because she didn't want us to be apart; she was lucky to be in a powerful enough position that the label were willing to acquiesce to her demands. I don't think I'd have that pull. I guess I'm lucky that Silicon Valley is right here in California so I'd never be _that_ far from LA and from my girl even if that sort of job did materialise. If it involved moving thousands of miles away… we'd both have some talking and thinking to do because it's a decision we would have to make together."

The taller teen nodded. "I've talked to Jade, obviously, and she says I should go and put my career first."

"She loves you enough to support you in doing that."

"Right, or she just wants me out of the way," he joked. "I don't want to be apart from her for that long though," Beck ran his hand through his hair and frowned, "and she can't exactly fly up for the weekend because we're _both_ working now."

"How long will you be gone?"

"About a month at a time before we'd then get a week off; everyone else has a family too."

"Try it," the short-haired sophomore shrugged. "If it _really_ doesn't work out and you miss Jade too much then you can talk to them about revising the workload again. But for now, if you want to act, then I guess you need to just go for it."

"You're right, I will. I'll let the university know next chance I get."

"You're not staying until Monday?" Freddie was surprised.

"They're flying me back to Vancouver on Monday morning," he explained. "Jade and I have this weekend and then… that's it for a while." His face fell at the thought.

_En route to UCLA_

_Monday, 19__th__ November 2012_.

"It's about time we invited André over again, isn't it?" Freddie asked the girls as he drove the three of them to school.

"Yeah, last time we talked at RPX he said his grandmother's still with them but…" Tori trailed off and looked dejectedly out of the front passenger window; in the beck Jade bowed her head a little as the same thought went through her mind.

"Maybe we could do this weekend, ask Cat and Mel as well and make a bit of a party of it?" the driver suggested.

"Oh, if we're having a party then we should have it at my parents' place," Tori brightened. "That way we can make it a pool party. Pool, Jacuzzi, it'll be awesome," she enthused. _Pool party?_ Freddie thought, certain images immediately flooding into his brain.

"Sounds great," her fellow brunette piped up, "I can work on my tan once Cat starts talking," she half-joked.

"Anyone else you want to invite?" Freddie asked, "Robbie?"

"Yeah, where is Robbie these days?" Tori suddenly wondered aloud.

"I've no idea," Jade answered, "I'd have thought that Cat might know but she hasn't mentioned him recently."

"What _did_ Cat say the last time you guys talked?" he asked curiously.

"She said she had an audition for something but couldn't remember what; typical Cat," the gothic brunette smirked, "so whether or not she got it I have no idea."

"And she and Melanie still do some babysitting too?" he prompted.

"Wait, you were _serious_ about that?" Tori asked their friend. "Who'd trust _Cat_ with their kid?"

"I have _no_ idea," Jade admitted. "Melanie seems responsible though," she observed.

"Certainly more so than her sister," Freddie agreed as he turned the car onto the university campus.

As a sophomore Freddie had noticed an appreciable increase in his workload in recent weeks; he and Andy were having to work late at least a couple of days a week in order to keep on top of their projects. On those days the girls would travel in a different car, either Jade or Tori doing the driving depending on the girls' moods, but the boys had agreed that they needed at least a couple of evenings a week to spend with their significant others so they made sure that work didn't consume _all_ of their free time; for today they would content themselves with working for the hour between classes in the afternoon.

"Ok," Andy pulled out the folder with their project work in it; it had been his turn to look after it and he had managed to do a little more over the weekend, "so we're pretty much done with the design now," he began, "and the blueprint is in the right sort of form. I redrew it yesterday if you want to look over it."

Freddie accepted the paper from his partner and studied it carefully, thinking back on how the draft had looked. "Yeah, that looks fine," he smiled, returning it.

"So now we just need to get it built," Andy sat back in his chair.

"That shouldn't take too long; I can put these things together quite easily."

"Anything I can do to help that part?"

"Not really. It's really not a two-person job as it's so small and fiddly."

Andy nodded; he had made the offer but expected his friend to decline. It was why he had done a little more work on the design, knowing that it was the best way to arrange an equitable division of the work.

"I'll start with the template for the evaluation then; that way we can just put in the appropriate comments when we actually see how it works."

"Cool. So, how's things with your girl?" he asked as the two headed for their next class.

"We're getting there, thanks for asking. Still getting to know one another a bit and some of her friends are a bit…" Andy tailed off with a shrug, "but I like her and she seems to tolerate me," he grinned.

"Do you want to invite her to a pool party this weekend? We're hosting one at Tori's parents' place. Should be a fun evening."

"That'd be great; I'll ask her and let you know."

Freddie nodded.

The girls, meanwhile, were busily immersing themselves in their acting and singing classes. One of Jade's teachers for the day happened to be Beck's tutor and he confirmed that the boy had called from Canada late morning to say that he _would_ be taking some time away from college, though not going so far as to drop out just yet. The two girls were still leading groups of their classmates in varying acting assignments; the others were eager to try and pick things up from the more experienced duo. Tori, meanwhile, still had to contend with people eager to perform duets with her in her singing class; due to her touring she was still more comfortable working alone and negotiating with the course tutor how best to gain extra credit for her solo shows. They were still ironing out the details but they would find a way of making it happen.

Tori and Jade had headed for lunch together; Tori had texted Freddie but he was busy working on his project. The two, therefore, spent the hour together in the refectory. They had hoped to be alone but that proved not to be the case as a pair of sophomore students approached them.

"Hello, ladies," one, a blond, greeted them. Tori rolled her eyes at the intrusion.

"What do you want?" Jade snapped, already losing her patience.

"Don't be like that, gorgeous," the second boy, with black hair, responded jovially, placing his hand affectionately on her shoulder.

"Move it or lose it," she growled; he gave her a cautious look and let go of her.

"Better; if it happens again you won't get options."

"What about you," the first smiled at Tori and sat close to him.

"My boyfriend wouldn't like it if he found you sat near me." Jade smirked at the reply; Freddie was one of the most mild-mannered guys on the planet but she knew he would do whatever it took to keep Tori safe – or her for that matter.

Undeterred the pair sat either side of the girls, for Tori and Jade it was depressingly reminiscent of their 'date' at Nozu in senior year. The two exchanged glances and just got up.

"Hey, what's the rush?" The blond made the mistake of catching Jade's arm as they began to walk away; she spun quickly and swung her right hand hard towards him, the combined momentum yielded a hugely satisfying smack and sent the shocked boy to the floor.

"I warned you," she muttered and turned to join Tori so that they could leave the refectory.

"Sorry," Tori mouthed apologetically to one of the staff as they made their retreat. The darker haired boy just stared after them and watched them leave; he was smart enough not to pursue them further.

_Vega Residence, Hollywood Hills_

_Saturday, 24__th__ November 2012_.

Beck was still in Canada but, with the Vega parents (and Trina) away for the weekend Tori had been able to throw the dinner-and-pool party that she had wanted to. Their songsmith friend was still in a sombre mood when he arrived around 4 p.m. (around half an hour after Andy and his girl); he put on a brave face for them but they could tell that he was still full of worry over the worsening condition of his grandmother.

They were joined about an hour later by Freddie, straight from work at the Pear Store, Melanie and Cat; the ebullient red-head was in high spirits and had exciting news for the group.

"I got a job," she cried happily, laughing at the end of her announcement.

"The audition was a success then?" Tori asked, pleased for her friend.

"Yeah, I got a part in _Wicked_; I'm playing the role of Glinda," she explained.

"Cool," Jade enthused, happy for her talented friend to get some recognition and work.

"Yeah, she's practising like non-stop," Melanie noted; there was no hint of bitterness in the blonde's voice. "I've been helping her with some of her rehearsals, she should be good for opening night."

"And how's the babysitting going?" Freddie prompted.

"It pays some of the bills," the good twin grinned, "and it keeps us busy; those kids really keep us on our toes."

"Ok, everyone, let's head out the back," Tori suggested.

"Oh yay, pool!" Cat declared; she raced out the back and stripped to her red bikini before leaping into the pool; Melanie followed suit, though hers was dark blue.

"Jade?" Tori asked, raising her eyebrows. Her housemate revealed a mid-blue one-piece but eschewed the pool and made for the hot tub instead.

"You know me and my hot tubs," she grinned; Freddie turned to his girl for an explanation.

"She likes to pretend that she's been captured by a witch and is being turned into soup."

"Ok then," the boy was a little perplexed by the explanation but accepted it with a casual shrug. He changed in his girl's old room, while she also stripped to her costume, and they headed out together and joined the others in her parents' pool.

"André, come in," Tori urged. The dreadlocked musician shook his head sadly and continued to sit on one of the chairs by the pool. "Come on," she repeated as she lifted herself out of the pool by pushing on the stonework that surrounded it; the singer felt the sun warming her wet skin as she walked over to her friend.

"Thanks Tori but I'm just not in the mood," he complained.

"Worrying about your grandmother?" she guessed sympathetically.

"Yeah," he sighed, "she's still getting worse. It's just…" he tailed off as he began to sob and sniff a little, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. The still damp girl took a seat next to him and slipped an arm round his shoulders as Jade eyed them from the hot tub, her own mood worsening a little as she eyed her housemate consoling their mutual friend; the darker-haired teen made a mental note to offer her own words to him a little later on and tried to focus on something else. Fortunately Cat was very good at providing a distraction as she splashed giddily in the pool, laughing hysterically as she, Freddie and Melanie engaged in a water fight.

Jade was surprised to detect additional movement in the hot tub; she turned to the newcomers, Freddie's friend Andy and his girl.

"Hi Jade," the boy smiled.

"Hey," she replied.

"This is Allie."

"Hi," she managed to get out, while her mind flew back to Beck's neighbour the cheerleader; the girl had only been nine at the time but the actor had neglected to mention that and it had resulted in one of the many rows between them over the years.

_This_ Allie, however, seemed altogether different, Jade mused as the three talked in the tub. The girl was majoring in art but knew enough about the technology stuff Andy and Freddie were doing to enable them to have conversations about it.

"I'm hoping she'll do some of my drawings for me," the boy grinned, "I really am _not_ good at that sort of thing."

"If you make it worth my while," the blonde teased seductively, stealing a quick kiss. Jade closed her eyes at this and began to relax in the swirling waters; she wasn't too eager to eavesdrop on their private moment and was enjoying the soothing waters, even though screaming about a witch capturing her would have been an inappropriate thing to do at that moment. She grinned as she suppressed the thought.

"Ok everyone," Freddie's voice suddenly distracted her from her daydreaming, "dinner is ready, so if you all grab a seat out here I'll start bringing stuff out." He headed inside, Tori just behind him as the other guests grabbed towels and began to take seats at the garden table. Jade took one next to André so that they could talk a little during the meal.

The young couple had done an excellent job with the food and were thanked by all their guests at the conclusion of the meal. Andy insisted on helping to clear stuff away (his friendly competition with his course partner spilling over into yet another aspect of their lives) while Jade and Tori took the opportunity to soak up a few more rays before the sun began to set over Los Angeles.

_430 Dalehurst Avenue_

"Did you enjoy that?" Tori asked her man as they, and Jade, settled into the living room; each was armed with a mug of cocoa (even Jade feeling it was too late for coffee).

"I did; I think it worked well, though we didn't exactly cheer André up as hoped," he noted sadly.

"No, I think his mood's going to be like that until… _the end_," Jade commented as delicately as she could.

"We just need to be there for him when it does – and beforehand – and let him know he has friends that he can count on," Tori added; the others nodded.

"At least Cat seems happy," the tech wizard tried to look on the brighter side of things.

"Yeah, landing a part in a show; it makes up for missing out on the _Snow White_ role." The girl's unnatural tan still hadn't faded sufficiently after her mishap and the theatre company had been forced to cast someone else as time was getting on.

"Y'know," Tori smiled at her fellow freshman, "Cat getting that part gives me an idea for a project for the singing class we share."

"Ah, you're thinking a little duet action again?" Jade grinned.

"And I know just the song…" the light brunette smiled.

* * *

"So you had a good time at the party?" Tori asked again as she and her boy cuddled in bed.

"You, Jade, Cat and Mel in swimsuits on a sunny evening; what's not to like?" he joked, earning himself a playful swat to his chest. He caught the offending hand and kissed it gently. "I had a great time," he assured her.

"Me too," she confirmed, pulling him close for a goodnight kiss.

* * *

**AN: That's the end of this chapter; thanks for reading and please feel free to let me know what you thought of it. PD.**


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Hi everyone and thank you for clicking on this latest chapter of the story. I hope you're all doing well. As ever, let me start by thanking those of who read and reviewed last time.**

**Challenge King – thanks, I'm glad you liked it. Beck needed some advice and André needed his friends. I think it all worked out for them as well as it could do at the time.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – yes Jade sees everything go Tori's way and it maybe just sticks in her throat a little. Cat has her own shot at a little bit of a performance too, we'll see more of that in time.**

**Jeremy Shane – thanks, and here is more.**

**Pbow – good points and for Beck nothing else would make sense. He wants to act so why pass up parts in order to go to college? Much better to be doing what he wants to do, even if the price is time apart from Jade.**

**Bade Romance – they're still together but the distance is going to challenge them. Thank you for the insight into how it's dealt with in your own life. Beck and Jade just need to remember that their friends are here and will support them if they ask them to.**

**Agent-M – it is a hard time for them, but life isn't easy. Thanks and I'm glad you're enjoying it.**

**That's everyone so here is the next part of the story.**

* * *

Chapter 8

_Director's Office, Universal Studios, 100 Universal City Plaza, Los Angeles CA_

_Saturday, 1__st__ December 2012_.

"So they just _hired _a new writer for the movie, just like that?" Tori sought clarification following the unexpected phone call; she had been summoned to the studio to re-shoot what should have been her last scene in the movie. The development also opened the door for her to be in further scenes before filming ended.

"Yes, it came more than a little out of the blue," the director explained, reclining on his chair, hands supporting his head as he addressed the brunette and her boyfriend. "The previous guy had been offered work with Dingo and this was his last script so when the higher-ups received a speculative plot pitch through the mail from some guy, a plot that was actually fairly compatible with this one, they read it, decided that they liked it and called the guy in for an interview. They offered him a job, gave him the script, along with what had been filmed so far, and asked him to work his ideas into it without us having to reshoot too much. So there'll really just be the end of the scene where your character was supposed to die and then we have a way to work you into a couple of the scenes we've yet to shoot."

"That sounds great," the girl enthused; her boyfriend smiled next to her and gave her a quick cuddle.

"So who is this guy?" Freddie asked.

"I've not met him yet," the director replied, "all I know is his name's Henry something-or-other and he used to work out east somewhere; I think he might even have been a teacher out there which is why we have to wait until after Christmas before he can move here full-time. For now he just mails in script portions now and again. Fortunately we're just about done with this movie so his workload's not too big but once he moves here he'll be starting on part 2 of this story as his first real project with a view to us starting filming late spring and continuing over the summer."

"Right," Tori responded a little weakly.

"Summer; that's when you're meant to be on tour," Freddie observed, voicing her concern.

"Yes, we're aware of that," the director confirmed, "and we've already spoken to the guys at RPX; we got into discussions once they booked you for a couple of gigs here at Universal. We think that we can accommodate both; filming in the spring and late summer with the tour taking a couple of months in the middle. Your character _is_ important but she won't be in a _huge_ amount of it so we can get the bulk of the other scenes filmed while you're off singing."

"That's going to be a busy summer then," she pointed out to her man.

"You'll be back at college for a rest," he joked. "Still, this is what you want, isn't it? Better this than not having any work."

"That's definitely true," she agreed, smiling at him.

"Ok," they were interrupted, "well we'll give you a call during the week sometime and let you know when we'll need you for filming."

They stood up, shook hands with the studio employee and prepared to leave when the director called after them.

"Oh, Tori; did you think any more about that other little problem?"

"Other problem?" Freddie asked, surprised that his girl had kept something from him.

"Oh right," she turned to him with an embarrassed grin, "it turns out there's already a Victoria Vega in the Screen Actors' Guild so I need to pick a different stage name."

"Really? I'm not familiar with her," he wrinkled his forehead as he thought on the fact that someone shared his girlfriend's name.

"Yeah, she makes the kind of movies I wouldn't want to… unless _you_ were my co-star," she added with a grin.

"Oh," he spluttered as he comprehended her meaning.

"Right so have you thought on a stage name?"

Tori looked nervously at her man; they had been together almost eighteen months and were very much in love but still… "I checked that it was available so I decided on Tori Benson."

Freddie's jaw dropped; she had expected it to. "It's not that… I don't mean…" she began awkwardly.

"Maybe you two should go and talk?" the employee suggested, seeing how uncomfortable the atmosphere had become and steering them towards the door.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea," she agreed weakly, leading her man by the arm as he walked in something of a daze beside her.

"That wasn't a marriage proposal," she said as they got into his car; he hadn't said a word since leaving the director's office.

"That's a…" he caught himself in time, "I'm glad to hear it."

"You are?" Tori felt a little hurt that he dismissed it so happily, that the thought of marrying her seemed to horrify him so much.

"Yes, because I always figured that I'd ask you one day, in a couple of years' time; y'know, when we've been together a little longer and are almost out of college." He turned to her with a grin, "I can't have you stealing my thunder now, can I?"

She giggled with relief that he _wasn't_ as horrified as she'd feared, nor had he completely freaked out at her announcement and choice.

"You know," he commented thoughtfully, having turned the key in the ignition and begun the drive home; he worked hard to keep his face straight and his tone neutral, "we _should_ have made one of _those_ videos; it would have been a hit on _The Slap_," he grinned wickedly at his girl.

"We'd have had the site shut down!" she protested, aghast at his suggestion.

"But think of the hits your page would have got before it did."

"I already got way more hits than anyone else at Hollywood Arts," she reminded him.

"Yeah, singing in front of a gazillion people at the PMAs will do that to you," he commented airily. "So, you don't _want_ us to make any home movies like that?" He felt that it was his turn to put her on the spot after the events of the morning.

"I never said _that_," she purred, "just that we should keep it for private viewing." The brunette reached across the car and her hand began to wander up her boyfriend's leg. Suddenly it seemed a good idea to Freddie to get them home as quickly as he could without risking their safety.

_430 Dalehurst Avenue_

Any plans the couple may have had for a private, intimate afternoon were delayed by the discovery that they were not alone on their return; Jade's car was in the driveway so the excited half-Latina broke the news to her dark brunette housemate when the couple entered the house; to her face Jade seemed happy and supportive of her friend though, once Tori had headed upstairs, she made a comment to Freddie.

"So it all works out for her again?"

The tech genius turned to face her with a querying look.

"I mean look at it," she began, "she performed at the PMAs, got a record deal, finished an album, had a mini-tour – where _she_ called the shots so she got to stay local; she lives with her boyfriend, gets a movie deal, _got killed off_ and was still wanted for sequels and now even being killed off isn't happening, she's getting even more of a role and will be more involved in the next films. It just seems that _everything _always works out for her."

Freddie looked upset at her resentful attitude; Jade saw the hurt and disappointment in his eyes and quickly backpedalled, "I _am_ happy for her, _really_ – and I know I shouldn't complain too much because she's my friend and she gave me a bit of a break in the music business as well with the duet and us performing it during a few of her concerts, and yes I'm getting a bigger and better role on my show going forward so it's all _pretty_ good for me; I dunno, I guess I just miss Beck," she shrugged, "and maybe I just wanted to see something happen to her to prove that she's human," the girl smirked.

"You can trust me on that one," Freddie grinned back, "and with the other stuff? She's had her hardships over the last year or so; her parents' marriage almost collapsing, thinking she'd missed out on a chance to capitalise on the PMAs when she wouldn't be Mason's pawn in the show..."

"Having Trina as a sister," Jade interrupted with a grin.

Freddie declined to comment, instead finishing his point. "It's not her fault that she got signed – or that she's exploiting the opportunity to the very full…"

"_I know_," the other insisted, "it's just… I had this all the way through school as well; once she arrived at Hollywood Arts it was as if she had a charmed life and nearly everything went her way in the end. She gets all these opportunities and I just wonder why; aren't I as talented as she is, as pretty?"

"You _definitely_ are," he agreed, smiling at the self-tanned teenager.

"So can you at least understand why it just rankles sometimes?"

"I guess so," he conceded, "but you can't expect me to feel upset that my girlfriend is getting the opportunities to show the world what she can do," he continued reasonably, "and so long as she keeps trying to help you? Just try and be happy for _your friend_." Jade nodded; Freddie grinned, "Do you fancy a coffee?"

"Always," she grinned back at him as he bustled off to the kitchen to prepare a pot.

Later that afternoon he and Tori managed to get their alone-time (though for now Freddie's video cameras remained unused) and the couple were cuddling contentedly in their bed. "It's not just next summer that's going to be crazy," the brunette began, reluctantly breaking the mood but needing to voice what was on her mind, "Christmas isn't exactly going to be a break either."

"Shaun got back to you about the second album?" he asked.

"Yeah, I got a call from him yesterday; in the middle of everything else I guess I forgot to mention _that _too. I'm going to have to spend _a lot _of my time on evenings and weekends working on my music between now and the end of term and then probably most of the break writing more stuff, maybe working with André a bit, and starting to record so that the album will be ready for a spring release."

"I know how important it is to you; do what you have to. We'll work it out," he told her supportively.

"Thanks, it's just that I know how much you were looking forward to us going up to Seattle over Christmas for a few days again; seeing your mom, Carly and Sam. There's no way I can go when I'll need to be here and working with Shaun and the others."

"Your career is more important right now than a trip to Seattle," he whispered, kissing her temple reassuringly, "it would be nice to go up together but there'll be other chances. I'll just have to go up on my own if you're going to be working a lot as I really _do_ need to see my mom at least over Christmas."

"Yeah," she smiled, "at least Beck will be back so he and Jade will be around. Mom, dad and Trina will as well; I'll cope for a few days without you," she smirked.

"Hopefully not too many," he replied deadpan and the couple shared a laugh before Tori sought out her man's lips again.

Having just left her own room as she headed back downstairs, Jade heard the laughter coming through the door and, despite her happiness for her friends, her face fell a little; she hugged herself as she reflected on how much she missed Beck during his long filming stints in Canada. He would, hopefully, be back in a week but it was a long time since she had last seen her man, other than during their video-chats. She forced herself to smile and focussed her thoughts on how she felt happy for her friends.

_University of California Los Angeles _

_675 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA_

_Monday, 3__rd__ December 2012_.

"Ok class," the girls' contemporary music teacher announced as the period approached its end; Tori and Jade had spent most of it whispering between them as the material was virtually identical to one of the classes they had taken at Hollywood Arts. "In pairs and for next weekend I want you to pick a song from the last twenty years and do your own interpretation of it. You may choose your own partner."

The two brunettes' heads sprang up as they comprehended this; the teacher was already leaving the room and their classmates were beginning to cast looks in their direction.

"Hey partner," Jade said loudly while looking at Tori, "what song are we going to do?"

"I don't know _partner_," Tori exaggerated, "but I'm sure it will be awesome."

The two shared wicked smiles as their dejected colleagues slouched away. Tori's fell as they were left alone. "So what song _are_ we going to do?" she asked as they packed up their things.

"We've time to think of something," Jade shrugged nonchalantly.

_The Piero, 616 St Paul Avenue_

_Sunday, 9__th__ December 2012_.

The two girls were still struggling to come up with a really great song choice that they could adapt into a duet; they had bounced a few ideas around and come up with plenty that they _could_ do really well, but no one song really inspired them. They decided to take a break from brainstorming, given that Freddie had no plans for the afternoon either (Beck's flight was delayed but he would be in Los Angeles later on in the day) and called to see if they could visit Cat and Melanie. The two girls were happy to receive a visit from their friends so the trio loaded into Freddie's car and made the short trip across the city.

"Hey," Melanie answered the door with a smile and admitted them to the girls' apartment; she reserved a particularly pretty smile for Freddie and, despite their earlier talks, Tori felt her claws starting to protrude lest she need to keep the blonde away from her man.

"Is Cat home?" Jade asked without preamble as she stepped past the Puckett twin and inside their home.

"Yeah she's in her room; can't you hear her?" the girl asked.

The new arrivals listened and could hear their friend's dulcet tones drifting through the apartment.

"_POPULAR! You're gonna be popular!  
I'll teach you the proper ploys when you talk to boys,  
little ways to flirt and flounce, ooh!  
I'll show you what shoes to wear, how to fix your hair!  
Everything that really counts to be..._

POPULAR! I'll help you be popular!  
You'll hang with the right cohorts,  
you'll be good at sports,  
know the slang you've got to know.  
So let's start, 'cause you've got an awfully long way to go!

"

"She's been singing that for _days_," the blonde complained, "it's why I made her practice in her room with the door closed. After a while, as good a singer as she is, she just drives me crazy with it."

"Well Cat can do that to anyone," Jade grinned; Tori nodded her agreement while the other two chuckled.

"Can I get you a coffee?" Melanie offered.

"Yes!" Jade gasped as soon as the offer was made; the couple traded amused glances at the twin's surprised reaction to Jade's enthusiastic answer.

"Jade _loves_ her coffee," Freddie laughed to his ex-girlfriend's sister as they followed the girl to the apartment's kitchen.

Coffee served, Melanie knocked on her flatmate's door. "Cat," she called through it, "Jade, Tori and Freddie are here."

The red-head shot out of the door and joined them in the living room.

"Oh hi guys," she greeted them brightly. "I was just practicing some of my songs for the play," she explained.

"We heard," Tori kept a straight face while Jade smirked, "it sounds like it's going well for you."

"Oh it is," the girl gushed, "rehearsals have been great, I get on with all the other people in the cast really well and I'm getting my lines down. I can't wait for opening night," she concluded with a smile.

"When _is_ the first performance?" Jade asked curiously.

"In two weeks; the 15th is opening night," she answered.

"Are there any tickets still available?" Freddie asked, thinking that it would be a nice thing for them all to go to.

"I'll check," Melanie reached for her pear pad and called up the theatre's website.

"Uh…" she scanned, "yeah there's still quite a lot actually," her tone was a little disappointed as she hoped that her new friend would be performing to a sell-out audience.

"Beck's back that weekend too isn't he?" Freddie looked to Jade for confirmation, which he received. "So if the four of us go, André, Trina as well, that's another six in the audience. Are there any seats near yours Melanie?" he asked her.

"I got mine through the company so I'm with the cast's friends and families," the blonde explained, "best seats in the house," she laughed, grinning at the cupcake loving girl.

"Well, we'll get some decent seats and enjoy the show," Freddie assured them.

"That'll be great, then we can all go for ice cream afterwards!" Cat exclaimed. Jade didn't look too thrilled at the suggestion but held her tongue seeing her best friend's enthusiasm.

"How's college going Freddie?" Melanie settled back into her chair and turned her attention to the brown-haired sophomore.

"Really good thanks. The course is going well, we have our projects _almost_ done; we'd be finished already if Andy wasn't spending so much time with his girl," he laughed, pleased that his friend was happy but not above taking a couple of mild shots at him, "so I should be able to enjoy Christmas break. How about you?"

"Mine's going well too. I can't believe we're nearly half-way through our second years in college though; it's flown by!" she noted. "Will you be going to Seattle over break?"

"_I_ will, but not Tori; she's too busy," he nodded at his girl. "You?"

"I was thinking about it; it's probably about time I saw my mom and sister again, see what trouble they've both got into lately. Maybe we could go together?" she suggested.

"Sure," Freddie agreed, "it'd be good to have some company on the trip."

He didn't see Tori's frown behind his back.

_430 Dalehurst Avenue_

"Ugh," Tori grumbled when the trio returned home and sat in front of the television, "I can't get that song of Cat's out of my head."

"I know, it's catchy isn't it?" Freddie quietly sang a few bars until the two girls' looks quailed him.

"You know…" Jade began thoughtfully, "there are some duets from that play and we _do_ still need to pick a song for class for us to perform next week."

"Yeah," Tori warmed to her idea, "we could _definitely_ put on something from that." She picked up Freddie's pear pad from the coffee table and began to search on-line for a list of songs and lyrics from it, looking for one that would give, or could be modified to give, the two girls roughly equal participation.

"Hello!" a bright, yet tired voice called from the doorway.

"Beck!" Jade yelled, leaping to her feet and moving briskly to the front door to greet her man with a hug and a long kiss. "I guess you've missed me," he joked before returning the kiss, showing that he had missed her too.

"Hey dude," Freddie called as the reunited couple joined them in the living room.

"Hi Beck," Tori echoed.

"'Sup guys?" he asked amiably, dropping his bag on the floor and sinking into a chair; Jade slipped onto his lap and he wrapped his arms wearily around her middle as she leaned back against him.

"How was filming?" the tech producer asked his friend.

"It was great, thanks. We've only got a couple more of this run to film so after that I should have a few months where I don't need to be heading back up to Canada. There _may_ be a bit-part or two in something that's shot down here that they can put my way early in the New Year."

"That's good news, we can spend some time together at least," Jade noted, kissing her boy again.

"Speaking of New Year," Tori smiled; the others turned to her, "what are we going to do to celebrate? I think we should have a small party here."

"Great idea," her boyfriend complimented, "I'll head to Seattle just after Christmas and make sure I'm back by New Year's Eve. We can invite André, your parents, Trina, Cat and Mel, Robbie, some of our college friends. Nothing _crazy_ but plenty of people we like."

Tori was privately not too thrilled at the idea of Melanie being there; she trusted Freddie completely but the blonde was another matter altogether. She said nothing though, appreciating that if Cat was going to come then her flatmate would be along as well, and instead joined in with the others, discussing a few ideas and preliminary plans for the party before Freddie moved the conversation back to another point.

"So you two are going to sing something from _Wicked_?" he prompted.

"I think so, yeah," his girlfriend nodded, "we should find something that works. Actually," she addressed Jade, "we should pick something tonight so we've a few days to learn it and make the changes that we want."

"Let me guess," Beck breathed out tiredly, "you're going to be Elphaba?" he asked his girl.

"Oh, we're not _that_ predictable," Jade grinned, "she can be her and I'll play Glinda."

"My girl showing her bad side," Freddie smirked, "I like that."

"Ok, let's get to work," Tori picked up her pear pad again and began to look for a song; Jade got up from Beck's lap and joined her on the couch.

"I'm going to head to bed then, I'm wiped," he complained and took his bag upstairs, giving Jade a quick peck on the cheek as he passed her.

"I'll leave you two to work," Freddie commented as the girls bent their heads over Tori's pear pad and studied the screen closely. "I'll see you upstairs later," and he gave his girl a goodnight kiss.

"You look happier anyway," Tori commented when they took a break (in Jade's case a coffee break) around half-an-hour later.

"I am, you have no idea how much I miss him when he's up there filming," she admitted wearily. "You are so, _so_ lucky that you guys don't have to go through that."

"I know," Tori agreed, "I'd go crazy to be apart from Freddie for so long. It's why he's coming with me on my tour next summer."

"You've got it all planned out already?" Jade asked in surprise.

"Well, you know Shaun's got me working on my second album?" the half-Latina prompted; Jade nodded. "He wants me to tour once college finishes for the summer. Freddie's going to take some time off work and come along, maybe even do a little work on the shows themselves."

"You're making him sing for his supper?" the paler girl asked in amusement.

"He has to earn his keep somehow," Tori quipped back and the two girls shared a laugh. "Yeah, so that's the plan for now. Maybe if you're not too busy and we're local you can come along, we can duet again for the encore?" she suggested.

Jade was happy with the idea, though a drawback occurred to her. "Will people be happy with a song from the old album on the new tour?"

"Who said anything about an old song? I'm sure we can find time to write something else we can perform for the new album, or even the song we're working on now – other than the class nobody will have heard it and I'm sure Shaun can negotiate a deal to allow us to perform it once or twice on my tour."

Jade nodded; there was no danger of their performance in class going public as the teacher had made clear that all phones and recording equipment had to be surrendered beforehand.

"Thank you," she said, "I appreciate you trying to help me out, _again_. Hopefully I'll be busy filming something but able to squeeze it in somewhere," she grinned. "Anyway, I think we need to get back to our song."

"Yeah, you'll be wanting to spend time with Beck on an evening next week; hopefully he won't be asleep the whole time," Tori grinned.

A couple of hours later the two exhausted girls had put the finishing touches to their work. "Now to learn it," Jade sighed.

"Practice can wait until tomorrow night though," Tori pointed out reasonably.

"Right, we may be able to practice in class anyway; I can't see us doing much else since the performance is on Friday."

"Let's get some rest then."

Jade crept quietly into her room; Beck was sleeping soundly and she snuck to the en suite without disturbing him. Tori was pleased to see Freddie was still awake; having finished up in their bathroom she slipped into bed with him.

"All finished?" he asked.

"Just about, we need to learn it and get it perfect, obviously, but we're done with the song itself."

"I look forward to hearing it when you rehearse," he smiled.

She reached purposefully across his chest and switched off the bedside lamp before tracking down his lips in the darkness.

"Night Freddie," she whispered as she nuzzled into his neck.

"Night Tori," he replied, kissing the top of her head.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed it. Please feel free to let me know one way or the other and I'll see you soon with the next update. PD.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello everyone. Welcome to this chapter; I hope you are all well.**

**Thanks as always go to those of you who read and, especially, reviewed Chapter 8. Your feedback is always most welcome.**

**Challenge King – yes, she may be the good twin but that doesn't mean Tori's not worried about a Puckett being after her man. Of course Melanie being the 'good twin', Sam still having feelings for Freddie and a multitude of other reasons mean that she **_**shouldn't**_** make a play for him, but she **_**is**_** a Puckett after all (as pbow pointed out on PM).**

**Agent-M – yes Jade sees Tori having more success and it frustrates her. She is talented enough, though, that it should all work for her too in time.**

**Fanfic-Reader-88 – Tori making adult movies… well Freddie did make a little joke about it. If only they had a housemate who could hold the camera for them… As I said earlier, things will all work out for Jade too and Tori's keeping an eye on Melanie. Cat can undoubtedly try **_**anybody's**_** patience so it's not surprising that she annoyed Melanie a little in the end with her rehearsals.**

**OneHorseShay – I can't think where I got that name or who inspired the character. No really I can't…**

**Jade getting a Teddie cuddle? Well Beck's back now so it's a bit less pressing for them to cheer her up; he'll be doing that job himself for now.**

**As for not trusting a Puckett, well I've commented on that above; we'll see how trustworthy or otherwise she turns out to be over time.**

**Pbow – hopefully some of the frivolous or otherwise questions will be answered in the coming chapters.**

**As you may have seen Freddie has been added to the character filter for this story so a huge thank you to the site admin for enabling me to do this.**

**Additional disclaimer: I don't own the musical **_**Wicked**_** or any of the songs in it.**

* * *

Chapter 9

_430 Dalehurst Avenue, Los Angeles, CA_

_Monday, 10__th__ December 2012_.

The four teenagers were relaxing in front of the television in the living room; as the only one of them not at college (and finally awake again after sleeping for most of the day) Beck had prepared dinner by the time the others arrived home and, having eaten, the college kids were discussing their respective days while plying Beck with questions about his life on set.

"I'm just about used to it now," he admitted, "the early call times, long hours. There's _definitely_ more to it than just the glamour of being a celebrity – and I'm not even able to enjoy _that_ yet; I pass people in the street up there and they don't recognise me."

"They will once it airs," Jade encouraged him, snuggling close to him and resting her head on his upper arm. He tilted his head to one side, bringing it to rest on top of hers as she closed her eyes contentedly.

"Probably, I mean plenty recognised _you_," he addressed Tori, "after your performance at the PMAs."

"Yeah," she agreed, "they were queuing up to duet with me in singing class."

"Speaking of which," the former iCarly tech producer joined the conversation, "how are you two girls getting on with your song for Friday's class?"

"We decided on _Defying Gravity_," his girlfriend replied with a smile, "I'm going to dress as Glinda and take her part though; we just felt Elphaba's part suited Jade better."

"Yeah, me being a West had _nothing_ to do with it," Jade sighed with a grin and without bothering to open her eyes.

"How about your penchant for black?" Freddie grinned.

"That helps too," she conceded with a shrug and a grin.

A rapping on the door drew the quartet's attention. "You answer it Tori," Jade ordered lazily; neither she nor Beck particularly wanted to move from their current location, enjoying the chance to be together again after such a long time with limited contact. Tori shook her head a little but rose from the couch and made her way to the front door.

"Oh hey Shaun," she greeted the owner of her record label, Shaun Quincy from RPX Records.

"Tori, hi, can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure," she stepped aside allowing him to enter the house; she shut the door behind him and gestured in the direction of the living room.

"I was hoping to have a quick word with you about a couple of things…" he began, taking a seat in an armchair.

"That's our queue to go," Beck noted, rising to his feet and bringing Jade up with him.

"You don't have to…" the music mogul apologised.

"No, we're going to head upstairs for a while," Jade backed up her boy and the couple headed eagerly for the Master bedroom to make up for some of the lost time owing to Beck's lengthy absence.

Freddie wasn't sure whether he should stay or not; Tori took the decision out of his hands by sitting back next to him on the love seat and taking his hand softly.

"So, what's up?" she prompted.

"Well, we have the second album and tour to start really planning."

"I thought the album was planned," Freddie commented, "I thought that you were going to be recording for most of the Christmas break."

"We are," Quincy confirmed, "and most of the songs are written – there's two more you need to finish?" Tori nodded. "The main problem is what we're hearing from _Universal_, that you're not going to be acting under the name _Tori Vega_."

"No I'm not," Tori went into details about why she couldn't use that name; Shaun nodded his understanding before continuing,

"That does give me a problem though; your music fans know you as Tori _Vega_ and now you'll be acting under another name. You can't really have two names in the business, one for music and one for acting, and I don't want your sales to take a hit because people don't immediately associate you under the new name."

Tori frowned; it was something that she knew she needed to figure out but hadn't yet managed to work on.

"How about releasing this album as _Tori Vega-Benson_?" Freddie suggested. "That way you should still get the name recognition but start to lay the groundwork for all your future stuff under _Tori Benson_, starting – hopefully – with the third album?"

"That's what I was wondering; it should work," Quincy noted thoughtfully, "we'll have to do some creative promotion for it but yeah, it should be fine."

The singer and her producer talked a while longer about the plans for the weekend; Freddie felt left out of the conversation but was happy to sit and support his girl. Finally Quincy left and Freddie glanced at his watch.

"It's getting late, you want to turn in?"

"Sure, but it's not _too_ late is it?" she asked with an impish grin. His own smile broadened and he seized his girl's hand again, leading her swiftly up the stairs. The couple paused at the threshold to their room; hearing the tell-tale groans emanating from Beck and Jade's room Tori turned to her man. "I'm glad that he's back; she's been so lonely without him," the brunette whispered, "even though we try to keep her involved in our lives while Beck's away, it's obviously not the same."

Freddie nodded and, again, counted his blessings that his girl's schedule meant that they didn't have the troubles that their friends were contending with; he felt that being apart from her for a few days over Christmas would be bad enough. Thankfully he wouldn't get to brood over this as he found himself in his girlfriend's arms the moment she had closed the bedroom door. Between a barrage of kisses the couple navigated their way to their bed; Tori giggled as she pushed her boy down onto it and assaulted his lips again.

_University of California Los Angeles _

_675 Westwood Plaza, Los Angeles, CA_

_Friday, 14__th__ December 2012_.

Freddie, to his immense relief, was done with lectures and labs until after Christmas; he and Andy had finished their projects so he had a nice break to look forward to before the end of semester finals in the early part of the New Year. He was, therefore, taking advantage of a free Friday afternoon to watch his girl's (or, as he sometimes thought, girls') performance this afternoon for their music class.

To his mild annoyance he had, like everyone else, had to surrender his phone and any other recording equipment on entering the theatre; the teacher did not want the performances being recorded by "unofficial" means, only by some accredited UCLA staff, recording it for future review to assist with grading – and to promote the course and its students.

The tech genius had been joined in the auditorium by his friend Andy and the other boy's girlfriend; outside of class it seemed that the two were quickly becoming inseparable. The girl, Allie, had briefly met Tori and Jade during the recent pool party but, having seen Tori at the PMAs and been told by Andy (from seeing one of their plays at Hollywood Arts the previous year) that Jade was equally talented, she was really looking forward to seeing the two girls perform on stage. Another teen snuck into the seat on Freddie's other side, grinning as the short-haired sophomore turned to him.

"Hey Beck," Freddie smiled, "come to see the girls in action?"

"Yeah, I figured I'd head by; my ID still works even if I'm not _really_ a student here at the moment so they let me in."

The quartet sat in polite silence during the performances before applauding enthusiastically as Tori and Jade took the stage; Tori wore a pink sequined pink top, pink jeans with pink shawls tied to a belt loop on either side of her hips, brown nearly knee high boots, pink fluffy shoulders and a large tiara setting on top of her head. Jade, on the other hand, had painted her face green and was dressed completely in black, topped off with a witch's hat. The watching teenagers grew silent as the spotlights fell on the two entertainers.

"Elphaba," the lighter haired girl began in a speaking voice, "why couldn't you have stayed calm for once, instead of flying off the handle!" She then began to sing, "_I hope you're happy! I hope you're happy now. I hope you're happy how you hurt your cause forever. I hope you think you're clever!_"

Jade took up the tune, "_I hope you're happy, I hope you're happy, too. I hope you're proud how you would grovel in submission to feed your own ambition_."

Both girls sang together, "_So though I can't imagine how, I hope you're happy right now_."

Tori spoke again, "Elphie, listen to me. Just say you're sorry:" then sang, "_You can still be with the Wizard; what you've worked and waited for, you can have all you ever wanted:_"

"I know," Jade said, before singing, "_But I don't want it - No - I can't want it anymore:  
Something has changed within me , something is not the same.  
I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game.  
Too late for second-guessing, too late to go back to sleep  
It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes – and leap!_

_It's time to try defying gravity._  
_I think I'll try defying gravity._  
_And you can't pull me down!_"

"_Can't I make you understand?_" Tori took up, "_You're having delusions of grandeur_."_  
_  
"_I'm through accepting limits,_" Jade replied in song, "_'Cos someone says they're so  
Some things I cannot change but till I try, I'll never know!  
Too long I've been afraid of losing love I guess I've lost  
Well, if that's love it comes at much too high a cost!  
I'd sooner buy defying gravity  
Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity  
And you can't pull me down_."_  
_

She dropped her voice to speak softly, "Glinda - come with me. Think of what we could  
do: together," before continuing in song, "_Unlimited. Together we're unlimited.  
Together we'll be the greatest team there's ever been_.

_Glinda - Dreams, the way we planned 'em_,"_  
_  
Tori took up, "_If we work in tandem_," before Jade joined in a duet,  
"_There's no fight we cannot win, just you and I.  
Defying gravity, with you and I defying gravity_."_  
_"_They'll never bring us down!_" Jade sang before asking in a speaking voice, "Well? Are you coming?"  
"_I hope you're happy, now that you're choosing this,_" Tori sang.

Jade said, "you too," and continued in song, "_I hope it brings you bliss."_  
"_I really hope you get it and you don't live to regret it.  
I hope you're happy in the end, I hope you're happy, my friend_," the two girls sang together._  
_  
"_So if you care to find me_," Jade sang, "_Look to the western sky!  
As someone told me lately: 'Ev'ryone deserves the chance to fly!'  
And if I'm flying solo at least I'm flying free,  
To those who'd ground me take a message back from me.  
Tell them how I am, defying gravity,  
I'm flying high, defying gravity.  
And soon I'll match them in renown and nobody in all of Oz,  
No Wizard that there is or was is ever gonna bring me down!_"_  
_"_I hope you're happy!_" Tori repeated sadly.  
"_Bring me down!_" Jade repeated to conclude.

The audience rose to their feet giving the girls a huge standing ovation; they smiled broadly at one another from the adrenaline rush of a successful performance before standing side-by-side in the middle of the stage; Tori's left hand found Jade's right and they took their bow before separating and waving to the crowd, in particular seeking out their significant others, both of whom were applauding and cheering wildly.

The two brunettes dashed backstage enjoying their adrenaline high as they sat down.

"That was _awesome_," one of their classmates praised them, clearly amazed by the quality of their performance. Their colleagues had, of course, seen some of their earlier work on _Splash Face_ but to actually see them work together, and in a live performance, took it to a whole new level. As they had been the final performance of the show, Freddie and Beck hurried to find them and warmly embraced their girlfriends, adding their own platitudes.

The class's teacher was the final person to join the group; she too gave her congratulations to the girls, and the rest of the class, for their performances and informed them that they would receive their grades after the Christmas holidays.

"So what now?" Tori asked as she and Freddie led the other couple out of the building and towards the car park (Andy and Allie had left after the performance for their own celebration of the end of the term).

"I say we celebrate," Beck enthused, "my treat to celebrate the end of your first term at college, a successful first season of filming for me and uh," he glanced at the shorter-haired male, "Freddie doing well too."

The tech producer smiled; he knew it was a little more awkward given that he was in his sophomore year and still something of a newcomer to the group, despite having been with Tori – and in Los Angeles – for around eighteen months now. Tori leaned closer to her man and spoke up,

"Freddie's had a great first term of this year too; he can celebrate that with us – along with his 4.0 GPA," she finished in a proud yet teasing tone as she ruffled his short hair.

"Where do you want to go?" Jade asked her boy before the couples went separately to their cars (Beck had arrived just before the show so he had driven himself onto campus; Freddie had driven himself and the girls in earlier in the day).

_Maestro's restaurant_

"Now _this_ is celebrating in style," Jade commended as they were greeted at the door of the fancy restaurant. The maître d' led them to a table where a waitress would take their drinks order; the teenagers had briefly returned home to change into more formal attire, worthy of the surroundings. Beck wore a white dress shirt, grey slacks with a matching jacket while Freddie wore black dress pants and a blue dress shirt. Tori wore a red, low-cut dress which slightly frilled at the bottom; it was short, finishing about half-way down the girl's thighs. Jade, for once eschewing her traditional black, wore a blue-green dress a little higher cut than Tori's and one that finished around her knees. The girls certainly had the attention of the (mostly middle-aged) male patrons of the restaurant as they walked through it. Some of the ladies, generally younger (and likely 'trophy' wives/girlfriends) cast envious eyes in the direction of the two boys. Both Tori and Jade subconsciously tightened their grips on their man's hand as they observed this. The two boys shared a quick grin as they reached the table.

Their sodas arrived and the menus were returned to the staff member; appetisers were ordered (both couples opting to share a dish) and the four conversed amiably as they continued to discuss some of the things (mostly for Beck's benefit) that had been going on over the months since they became housemates.

"You missed a great pool party," Freddie observed, bringing the conversation round to their evening at the Vega family home. Beck had been a little jealous when told about the evening, regretting that his filming had kept him away from such an event.

"Let me guess," he playfully nudged Jade with his elbow, "you pretended you were being turned into soup?"

"Of course," she confirmed with a grin. "It would have been a shame to waste such a nice, big hot tub by not using it."

"You didn't have to not use it," he clarified, "just not pretend you were soup – which is a little odd."

"Where's the harm in honing her acting skills?" Freddie amiably defended his friend.

"Thank you Freddie," Jade smiled and raised her glass towards him; he matched her grin and brought his glass to hers for a brief toast. Beck just shrugged, knowing he had lost this round.

Their entrees arrived shortly after the appetisers were finished; Freddie enjoying a nice steak and garden salad. Tori playfully stole a bite to complement her pork chop (Freddie retaliated in kind and in the end they decided to just share) while Jade passed on a taste of Beck's steak, preferring her own chicken dinner but not putting up too much of a fight when Beck moved for a taste of it.

Dessert (chocolate cake shared by Beck and Jade, New York cheesecake by the other couple) followed and four thoroughly full and sated teens slouched back on their chairs finishing their sodas as they savoured the memory of the meals they had just shared. The check arrived and Beck paid it without flinching; the waitress looked slightly surprised that a teenage boy could be so nonchalant about such a sum but didn't press the issue; she vaguely remembered him from the Hollywood Arts 'ping pong team' along with Jade and Tori who, of course, she also recognised from the PMAs.

The server wasn't alone in remembering Tori; the establishment's manager approached the table informing them that the evening's live music act was running late (the pianist had arrived but the singer wouldn't be there for another half-hour) and begged her to provide a couple of songs to fill in the gap. Jade gritted her teeth at being overlooked again; she was more than happy to let Tori sing for their supper when it came to paying the bill a couple of years earlier but for an actual _paid_ performance she would have liked to have been considered (though her own bank balance looked reasonably healthy now that she had completed filming for a few episodes of her sitcom). She applauded politely with the other patrons, though, when her friend completed each of the songs and smiled as the group left the restaurant.

"Another gig then?" she teased.

"Yeah, not an expected one," Tori conceded, "but it's all exposure and profile."

"And a few bucks," Freddie pointed out with a laugh.

"Yeah, it comes in handy," she agreed; they had paid her $50 for the mini-performance, not a fortune compared to her income from her gigs and record sales but a nice little bit of spending money, given that her parents had insisted that she invest most of her money in a long-term savings account. It was wise advice but she did regret that it meant that she couldn't go on a crazy little spending spree now and again.

_430 Dalehurst Avenue_

"So when is it you fly to Seattle?" Jade asked Freddie over coffee when the four returned home.

"Not for another week yet," he explained, "we fly up next Thursday and back the following Thursday, so plenty of time before New Year – but it _is_ a shame that I won't be here on Christmas Day," he looked to his girl with some regret in his eyes.

"So you and Melanie are flying together both ways?" Beck prompted.

"Yeah, she wants to fly up and visit her mom, sister and Carly; I don't think she's seen them really since she moved to LA."

"Does Sam _know_ she's here?" Jade asked incredulously, knowing that the blonde had visited the city a couple of times over the last year.

"Melanie says so but she obviously didn't want to visit her. I guess I'll find out while I'm up there how she feels about having her around."

"It's a shame they're not close," Tori mused, "she drives me nuts but I'm looking forward to seeing Trina a little more over the next few weeks – and mom and dad, of course."

"You live in the same city," Jade pointed out, "you can see her any time you want to."

"I know, it's just… different now that we're not under the same roof."

The darker brunette nodded; she could see the girl's point as she felt the same way regarding her own mother, reminding herself that she needed to make a little more time to go and visit her more often. A thought occurred to her and she stood up quickly, drawing curious looks from the others as she took her almost-empty cup with her to the kitchen; while refilling it she called her mother to make sure that she'd be around the following day so that she and Beck could visit sometime.

"So are you looking forward to your trip home?" Beck asked Freddie while Jade was in the kitchen.

"Home…" he mused, glancing at Tori and wondering just where he considered his home to be these days. "It'll be nice to see mom, Sam and the Shays, sure but… I'm going to miss you guys – especially _you_," he grinned at his girl, "while I'm up there. It's a shame work's getting in the way for Tori but… yeah it'll be nice to be back in Seattle for a little while."

"Well don't get _too_ used to being up there," Tori joked.

"Don't worry; I _know_ what I have waiting for me down here; I'll _definitely_ be back by New Year's," he promised, sealing it with a kiss.

* * *

**AN: Thanks for reading everyone and an extra thanks to One Horse Shay for the song recommendation. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter; please let me know what you thought and come back soon for the next one. PD.**


	10. Chapter 10

**AN: Hi everyone, welcome to my latest update for this story; I hope you've all had a good weekend.**

**My thanks as always to everyone who read and reviewed chapter 9, and I hope that you all enjoy this chapter.**

**Challenge King – I'm glad that you liked the chapter and their song; again my thanks to One Horse Shay for suggesting it.**

**FFR-88 – the name was taken, she expects to be Tori Benson one day anyway so figured 'why not?'**

**Bade lover – I'm glad you're happy with that couple in this one.**

**Jeremy Shane – thanks and here is more.**

**Pbow – she could have shared but there was no hint to her that Jade wanted to; she was happy enough to let Tori sing for their supper last time so she maybe figured that Jade wouldn't want to.**

**SO62 – thanks, and here is what happened in Seattle over Christmas…**

* * *

Chapter 10

_8__th__ floor, Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, WA_

_Thursday, 20__th__ December 2012_

Freddie smiled with mild relief as he and the blonde arrived in the hallway between the doors of apartments 8-C and 8-D; he was fond of Melanie but her almost non-stop chatter reminded him of Cat while her mild flirting during the flight had caused him to have to remind her, more than once, that he had a girlfriend already that he was perfectly happy with. She had giggled and dismissed it as her not being completely serious; he smiled along but had a nagging doubt, particularly thinking back to their first meeting, when he was convinced that she did not actually exist.

"That was a good flight up," the blonde in question observed with a smile of her own, "not too long – or too bumpy; I used to _hate_ turbulence when flying to my private school and back. It's one of the reasons I didn't fly back and forth too often."

"Sam and Pam being the others?" the brown-haired boy guessed wryly; she nodded vigorously.

Right on cue the door to apartment 8-C opened; Freddie was literally seeing double as the other Puckett twin stared at the pair. Both sisters wore frowns as they eyed one another.

"Speaking of turbulence…" he quipped.

"Yuck, Fredward and Melanie, not exactly the perfect sight for when I open the door," Sam observed snarkily.

"Great to see you two sis," the good twin barked back, "and I guess that's why you never even bothered to see me all the times you've been in Los Angeles visiting him."

"_All_ the times? There's been like two!"

"You know what, girls?" Freddie stepped between them. "Maybe you should take the yelling match indoors – oh hey Carls," he waved at the worried looking brunette as she made her way towards the gathering and seeing that it wasn't exactly the peaceful and joyous reunion that she had hoped it would be, "and I'll drop my stuff off and say hi to my mom."

He ducked past Sam, inside 8-C, and gave the brunette a quick one-armed hug (as his left hand was still holding his bag); she threw her arms around him and he kissed her cheek in greeting before he glanced towards her brother, who had taken a quick break from his latest sculpture at the onset of the commotion, and trading greetings with Spencer as well.

Carly released him and he slipped his arm briefly around Sam. "It's nice to see you too," he added with a hint of sarcasm, given her rather lukewarm greeting a few moments ago, before exiting the Shay apartment and reaching into his jeans pocket to retrieve the key for his mother's home. He needn't have bothered as he heard the lock unlatch from inside and the door shot open to reveal an elated Marissa.

"Freddie!" She flung herself upon her son. "Oh it's so good to see you."

"Hey mom, how are you?" he asked as he helped her to right herself and led her inside, taking his case with them; he pushed the door shut behind them, oblivious to the brunette staring after them as the blonde siblings bickered relentlessly by her left ear.

The Bensons spent a pleasant evening as mother and son talked about their lives; they spoke by phone a couple of times each week anyway so they mostly kept up to date with one another's lives but it was nice, Freddie had to admit, to be sat here talking to an altogether more relaxed Marissa than the one who had left him in Los Angeles some eighteen months earlier.

"Is T-Bo not off work yet?" he asked, looking around the pristine living area.

"No, he'll be here soon though; I even asked him to bring one of those strawberry smoothies that you liked so much."

"Oh thanks mom," he said brightly; he grinned as the thought of smoothies brought him immediately to his red-haired friend (and travelling companion's roommate).

"How's Tori?" she asked in slightly strained tones; she was still finding it a little difficult to accept that her son and his girlfriend were living together, particularly with another couple under the same roof.

"She's great, _incredibly_ busy – which is why she's not here with us for Christmas – but she's doing really well. Actually…" he hesitated.

"What?" prompted Marissa with a mixture of impatience and foreboding.

"Ok, I want you to hear this from me so you get the whole story."

"Go on," the matriarch's nervousness was increasing as wild theories, including impending grandmotherhood, flew through her head.

"Tori's name was already taken in the actors' union when she landed the role in her movie so she needed another one – and she decided on Tori Benson. We haven't secretly got married," he insisted as his mother gasped, "we're not even officially engaged but," he pressed on, "I think forever is a little more strongly implied for us now. I just didn't want you to see trailers for her movie or her next album in the stores – she's going to eventually adopt _Benson_ for her music as well – and think that we'd tied the knot without inviting you or even telling you." He smirked at his mother's gawp, "you'll _definitely_ be invited to our wedding."

"I should hope so!" she spluttered eventually. "It will _definitely_ happen then?" She wasn't sure how she felt at the prospect of gaining a daughter-in-law – ever.

"I hope so, one day," he told her with absolute sincerity.

_430 Dalehurst Avenue_

_Los Angeles, CA_

It certainly was a busy time for the half-Latina; she was leaving home before Beck or Jade got up on a morning (though, given that they were enjoying having some quality time to spend together they typically weren't getting out of bed much before 10 on a morning – and only then because Jade's need for coffee had become critical by then) and didn't return until around 9 in the evening. It had led to a lonely and frustrating few days for Freddie, being alone for most of it before he left for Seattle, though he understood the need for her to get her album completed over Christmas – and do a little more of the filming for her movie part. He had managed to fill his time with a little study and preparation for the upcoming exams at college but he was certainly looking forward to being able to hang with Carly, Spencer and the others a little over the coming week.

Beck and Jade _had_ tried to involve him a little in some of their plans, though he gained a fresh appreciation for how the gothic teen must have been feeling all the time that she and Beck had been apart over recent months. At least, he had reflected, he was still seeing his girl on an evening rather than not at all, which had been the case for the other couple.

"Hey," the weary girl called as she entered the house, dropping her car keys onto the table. "Did Freddie get off ok?"

"Yep, we dropped him at the airport a few hours ago; he should be there by now," Jade called back.

"Oh, I thought he might have texted me," the lighter brunette sounded a little disappointed.

"He's probably talking to his mom and hasn't had a chance yet," Beck shrugged.

"I guess," the girl conceded, heading past the couple and giving them a quick wave as she entered the kitchen, hoping that there was still a little coffee in the pot; she was in luck and poured herself a cup, returning to the living area and taking a seat on the couch.

"I hope you left some for me," Jade called warningly from the love-seat where she and her man were reclining while watching the TV. Tori just rolled her eyes and continued to sip her beverage.

"Say, we're going to Karaoke Dokie tomorrow night," Beck volunteered. "Wanna come with?"

"I don't know," Tori groaned, "I'm just so tired after all of this. Who's going to be there?"

"Me, Jade, Cat, Robbie and André. Come on, it'll be fun."

"I want to," then she smiled determinedly, "sure." She then sank back wearily into her seat and continued to drink her coffee until a beep of her phone drew her attention; she set her cup down and wriggled the pear-shaped device out of her jeans pocket. "It's Freddie; he's back at his mom's and he can hear Melanie and Sam arguing through the front door."

"It's a shame we're missing that," Jade commented ruefully.

"I'm going to bed; hopefully I'll be awake in the morning," the exhausted Tori complained, got up with a wave and headed upstairs.

_Apartment 8-C, Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, WA_

_Friday 21__st__ December 2012_.

"Hey hey people," Freddie called as he opened the front door to his friends' apartment and looked around it.

"Oh hey Freddie, come on in," Carly waved from the couch. "We're having a _Girly Cow_ marathon."

He grinned. "Wow I haven't seen that in forever; Tori's not a fan, Jade would rather stick hot needles in her eyes than watch it and it was never _really_ my thing so I've not seen it since I went to LA."

"Cat loves it," Melanie commented from her seat next to her brunette host.

"You're not watching, Sam?" he enquired, looking at the other blonde; she was unusually busy for this time on a morning.

"Nah, I'm going to go annoy Gibby for a bit."

"Sounds like a good idea," Freddie commented, "I haven't seen him since…" he paused and thought, "well since we left Nora's I guess." His face fell a little as he thought back on the aftermath of that 'party', how he'd still been on the outs with the girls, hadn't told them about his subsequent acceptance into UCLA until he dropped it on them just before what turned out to be his last web show as full-time tech producer and the awkward period between then and graduation, before they had finally reconciled on the eve of his move to LA. "Can I come with?" he asked the blonde before he turned his eyes back to his phone and tapped off a message.

"Sure," she shrugged before her eyes lit up; she swept a set of keys off the counter next to the Shays' PC. "We're taking your car!" she called to the brunette.

"You can't drive!" Carly snapped hotly.

"Freddie can," Sam grinned; the hostess huffed in defeat as the blonde lobbed him the keys.

_430 Dalehurst Avenue,_

_Los Angeles, CA_

"Who texted?" Jade prompted as Tori, dressed in her pyjamas and lazed on the couch, picked up her pear shaped device from her midriff and glanced at the screen.

"Freddie," she replied; Jade wasn't surprised, "he says he's going to see one of his old school friends this morning." She tapped off a quick reply before laying the phone back down on top of her and relaxing again, eyes closed.

"So what are _you_ going to do today?" Beck enquired, entering from the kitchen and setting mugs of coffee down in front of himself and Jade (Tori had declined a cup).

"Nothing," she grinned happily at the thought, "I have no plans at all for today or the weekend so I'm going to do absolutely nothing between now and tonight except recover from the chaos of the last week or so," she pulled a face as she concluded, "and prepare for Monday when I get another crazy day – at the film set this time – just before Christmas."

"So what's happening at RPX today?" Jade enquired.

"Shaun wanted them to take a break from recording to work on what we've got so far; y'know, get it all perfect for when we do the album press."

"Well, we're going to Disneyland if you want to come with," Beck offered; Jade looked a little disgruntled as she believed that places like that were only for tourists and Canadians, though of course she had to concede that her man fell into the latter category.

"Not today thanks," the lighter-haired girl smiled, "today I am just going to relax _all day_. Oh, who's that?" she complained as an insistent rapping began on their front door a moment later.

"I can only think of one person who knocks like that," Jade gave an involuntary, wicked grin as she suspected that Tori's lazy day might soon be interrupted. She got up from the couch and answered the door.

"Hi-iii," Cat greeted her exuberantly. "I'm coming in now," she added as Jade just stood there holding the door; the red-head walked past the dark brunette. "Hi Tori, hi Beck."

"Hey Cat," Beck smiled at their friend, "whatcha doing?"

"Melanie's not here and I don't have a performance until this afternoon's matinee so I thought I'd come and say hi so… hi-iii," she finished with a wave.

"Well I wish we could stay but Beck and I were just going out," Jade noted.

"Ooh, where?" she enquired eagerly.

"Disneyland," the Canadian-born supplied.

"Oh yay I love Disneyland."

"Yeah," Jade recognised, "but we're going to be there all day so you wouldn't get back in time for your play – and you don't want to pay full price for a ticket if you're only going to be there for a couple of hours."

"That's true," the cupcake lover's face fell for a second before she brightened again, "well I guess I can just stay here then and hang with Tori!"

The taller girl's face fell as her dreams of a quiet, lazy day evaporated before her still-closed eyes.

"Don't forget about Karaoke Dokie tonight," Cat called as the couple made their escape.

_Parking lot, Bushwell Plaza,_

_Seattle, WA_

"Same address?" Freddie prompted as he pulled Carly's car out of the lot.

"No, Gibby's not at his parents' place."

"Oh, where is he?"

"Olympia."

"He moved there?"

"No," Sam looked at him with an expression that perfectly blended surprise and mischief, "he's still stuck up the Derschlitz's chimney."

"What?" Freddie yelped. "It's been almost two years! Nobody's pulled him out of there?"

"He's Gibby, who'd miss him enough to bother?"

Freddie shrugged as he conceded the point. "How does he… never mind," and he turned the car in the direction of Olympia.

_Derschlitz residence,_

_Olympia, WA_

"Whoa!" Freddie gasped as they pulled up a few yards away from the house, "he really _is_ still up there."

"You calling me a liar?" Sam challenged semi-threateningly.

"No, I just wasn't sure I really believed that he'd still be up here after all this time being pelted by…"

"Yeah the kids throw stuff at him; enough food to keep him going, tennis balls in the summer and snowballs in winter." She bent down and packed some snow from the ground tightly, lobbed it gently from her right hand to her left, pulled the arm back and flung the projectile, catching the boy squarely on the forehead. "Bullseye!" she proclaimed proudly, throwing her arms up in celebration.

"Hey Gib," Freddie called to the dazed, filthy and dishevelled boy.

"Freddie?" he asked in shock, "Man it really _is_ you! Can you _please_ get me out of here?"

"I'll see what I can do; I think you've been stuck there long enough," he conceded, much to the disappointment and annoyance of the gathered audience; Sam was particularly vociferous in her complaints.

"Yeah, that would be great," he muttered wearily, before he brightened, "and once I'm down, maybe we could go and say hi to that girlfriend of yours – I assume she's here – it would be great for her to be introduced to the Gibster!" he concluded confidently and with a seedy grin on his face.

Freddie's face darkened in an instant; he held out his hand and prompted, "ball?"

Immediately the kids began to prepare snowballs for him and cheered wildly as ball after ball from the annoyed teenager struck his target.

"Urgh, Gibb – uh," the once-chubby teen groaned as a particularly vicious missile sent him into unconsciousness.

"That's that," he turned to the blonde, "Skybucks?"

"If you're paying," she grinned.

"Sure," he smiled back, put his hand on her shoulder and steered her back towards Carly's car as the local kids applauded their efforts; Sam stiffened a fraction and a wave of discomfort crossed the blonde's face from the contact, but she was able to suppress it. "So, all the time he's been up there – how did he... um," the boy trailed off weakly.

"Eww, gross; I didn't want to have to think about that," Sam shuddered.

_Skybucks, 4250 Marin Way East_

_Olympia, WA_

"Coffee and muffin for Sam," Freddie set them down in front of the blonde, "and coffee and cookie for Freddie," he sat opposite her with his own order.

"That cookie looks good," the blonde observed hopefully.

"I know, that's why I got one," he grinned, took a bite before giving the top of it a precautionary lick.

"You really think _that_ will stop me?" she challenged humorously. "I know it was a while ago but we _used_ to make out; do you _really_ think your tongue will put me off from stealing that cookie?"

"There has to be something I can do to keep it safe," he joked.

"I think you have to eat it before I grab it," she smiled back, taking a swig of coffee before turning to her muffin. "Mmm, this is good," she groaned through a mouthful of the treat; Freddie's mind was involuntarily cast back to their disastrous date at Pini's, though today he suppressed the urge to call the girl out on her appalling table manners. Instead he took a sip of his own drink while keeping a firm hold on his cookie, much to the little trouble-maker's amusement.

"So how are you Sam?" he asked genuinely. "Y'know, how's life and… and school and… other things?"

"You mean has mama found a guy yet?" she teased. "No. School's good though; I don't have any early classes this semester."

"You mean they learned that you wouldn't show for them so they scheduled them all for later?" he challenged jokingly; she frowned for a moment before agreeing with a small laugh.

_Apartment 8-C, Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, WA_

"Hi Carls," Freddie lobbed her the keys to her car as he and Sam entered the apartment. "Thanks for lending us your car."

"Like I had a choice," she grumbled under her breath. "How was Gibby?"

"As much of a jerk as ever," the brown-haired boy replied bitterly.

"Freddie knocked him out; it was a great shot," the blonde complimented.

"Why?"

"I was going to help him out of there until he suggested that if I did then he'd hit on Tori; I didn't like that." Carly nodded her understanding, though the stupidity of their former schoolmate amazed her.

"Are you ok?" Melanie asked Sam in a quiet voice; her twin looked a little annoyed at having to reply but did so grudgingly.

"Yeah, we talked and we're good. I still…" she sighed, "I guess I learned my lesson far too late," she brushed past the good blonde and flopped down on the Shays' couch.

"You're not staying?" Carly asked in disappointment as Freddie opened the front door again.

"I need to spend _some_ time with my mom while I'm up here; I'll be back later though," he promised and waved to the girls as he left.

_Karaoke Dokie_

_Los Feliz, CA_

Tori wearily entered the club; Cat was talking incessantly (which she had done all morning while they'd been hanging together). The half-Latina had been glad of the afternoon respite while the girl was in her performance of _Wicked_ and had gone back to bed for a nap before Beck and Jade had returned; the actor seemed to have enjoyed the day at the theme park far more than his girlfriend. The trio got ready for their evening out and waited for their red-haired friend to arrive fresh from her performance and even giddier than usual on the adrenaline rush from it.

"Hey, why don't you get us some sodas?" Jade suggested.

"'kay 'kay," Cat rushed off to the bar.

"I love her but I can only take so much Cat," the dark-haired girl complained.

"How do you think _I_ feel; I had that all morning too," Tori reminded her.

"Oh yeah, shucks to be you," Jade grinned before spying the owner's daughter, Hayley, and her friend Tara, leaning against the bar; she narrowed her eyes as they moved to intercept the redhead. Sensing trouble the girl made her way across the dance floor to join the three.

She was surprised, and relieved, to hear her friend laughing along with the other two girls as she reached them.

"Oh," Hayley was far less enthusiastic to see the gothic teen, though she did brighten a moment later as she glanced past Jade's shoulder towards the table at which Tori and Beck were sitting, waiting for the others to join them. "You brought your boyfriend!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, he's still off-limits," Jade snapped back.

"Doesn't mean I can't go and say hi," Hayley brushed past her and made her way towards the table; the brunette turned back to see a smug-looking Tara looking at her.

"What are you gawking at?" Jade demanded.

"Nothing," the blonde shot, "nothing at all," her smile widened and she turned and walked back to the bar.

"I still hate them," Jade told Cat before turning and marching back to their table and taking a seat next to Beck; the actor was talking politely to the newcomer while Tori sat with a glazed, tired look.

"You're lucky Freddie's not here," Jade whispered.

"Why? He wouldn't give _her_ a second look; he never did before," the lighter-haired girl pointed out; Jade frowned at the point she was making.

"Hi, I brought drinks," Cat declared brightly and proudly as she returned with the sodas; unfortunately, trying to hold four at once, she lost her balance, stumbled and one of the glasses slipped from her hand, emptying its contents over Miss Ferguson; she leapt from her chair and rounded on the childlike teen.

"You did that deliberately!" she accused; Cat's lower lip began to tremble at the accusation and tone.

"No, I didn't!" she insisted, "I just – I slipped."

"What's going on here?" Mr Ferguson, noting the commotion, came over to see what had happened.

"This girl," Hayley pointed at the redhead; her shoulders were slumped and she was staring at the floor, "threw a drink all over me."

"It was an accident," Tori argued.

"Yeah, she slipped," Beck echoed.

"It was a sad, hilarious accident," was Jade's attempt to help, aided by her wide grin.

"That's it; I want all of you out," Hayley's father demanded, just as André and Robbie walked through the door.

"Fine," Jade stood up and spotted the newcomers, "looks like we're going somewhere else," she told them. The two boys turned and went straight back out the door, followed by the others.

_Apartment 8-D, Bushwell Plaza_

_Seattle, WA_

_Saturday 22__nd__ December 2012_.

"So what happened after that?" Freddie asked curiously as he lay back on his bed, phone pressed to his left ear.

"We headed back towards Hollywood to one of the other clubs; it wasn't as good, and the drinks were more expensive, but we got a chance to have a bit of a talk and catch up."

"Right, and how was Cat?"

"She felt really bad about it; it didn't help that Jade spent all evening saying that she was her hero."

This drew a laugh from the Seattleite. "How about André? He was really down over his grandmother last time I saw him."

"He still is," his girlfriend answered, "and it looks like they're just waiting for the inevitable now. I just wish that there was something we could do for him."

"Just be there for him," Freddie replied hopelessly, "let him know he has friends who will support him; that's all we really _can_ do I guess."

"Yeah, I try and do that when we're at the studio together but he really doesn't want to think or talk about it; I guess working on his music keeps his mind away from what's happening with her." She changed the subject casually, "So how was your day yesterday? Did you do anything exciting?"

Freddie went on to talk about visiting Gibby (though it was an edited and abridged version of the actual event) and some of the other things that he had been up to, including hanging with the others at the Groovy Smoothie.

"No clubs last night for you?"

"No, Carly's not really into that scene so it would have been me and the Puckett twins. I remember last time I was at a place like that with Melanie…" he shuddered slightly at the memory of her chasing his fourteen-year-old self round and round the dance floor before grinning slightly at the realisation that he should have enjoyed it a lot more. _If I could turn back time_, he thought, _I might just have let her catch me_.

"Wait, you and _Melanie_ dated before?" Tori was slightly incredulous at the disclosure.

"I was trying to prove that she was actually Sam," he tried to explain, along with some of the pranks that the two girls had pulled on him during that week.

"I can't believe you stayed friends with them at all with all the crap they put you through," Tori shook her head.

"Looking back on it – neither can I," he agreed, wondering as he did why on earth he put up with so much for so long, then he grinned, "kinda like you and Jade," he turned it around on his girl, "at least things are different now – for all of us."

Tori had to concede the points.

"What's in store for next week then?" he asked.

"Well, Monday I'm back on set for the day; this new writer I was telling you about, Henry, is going to be in LA over Christmas and all the cast will be meeting him. André tells me that they got a lot of editing done yesterday for the stuff we've already recorded for the album so I shouldn't have to go into RPX over the holidays. After that I'll be at mom and dad's in the evening – it feels good to be able to say that after what happened earlier in the year – and I'll stay there for Christmas Eve night, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. Then on Thursday some dude wants picking up from the airport," she joked.

"And he can't wait to get home," the boy insisted with a smile. "Christmas with my mom and the others will be nice but I miss you," he confessed.

"Aw, I miss you too baby. At least you'll be back soon and will be helping on my tour next summer."

"Right," he agreed. "Well, I'll talk to you soon and see you Thursday I guess."

"Oh, you have plans today?"

"Yeah, Carly wants to hang and I haven't really seen too much of her since I got here so we're going to do something."

"Any idea what?"

"No, but knowing her it will involve chasing after cute guys," he half-joked.

"Don't chase too hard," she teased, bringing a fresh laugh from her boyfriend.

"Oh, looks like I have to go; take care and I'll talk to you later," he rang off after he heard a knock on his apartment's front door; he assumed that his brunette friend had arrived. A thousand miles away, Tori smiled as she set her phone down and then frowned slightly, wondering if her man had fully unpacked his bag yet.

Freddie's assumption was to prove correct; Carly brushed some stray strands of her long, dark hair from her face as he opened the door.

"Hey Freddie," she greeted him, "ready to go?"

"Sure," he agreed. "Lead the way."

"I thought we'd grab a smoothie to start with," the girl began, talking as they walked, "then maybe catch a movie or head to the mall or something."

"A nice firm plan then," he teased.

"Oh, shut up," she grinned back and playfully swatted at his chest.

_Groovy Smoothie_

Carly insisted on buying smoothies for them both; she returned to the table they had co-opted and set Freddie's Strawberry Splat down in front of him. He thanked her and took a sip.

"At least this one won't catch fire on me," he observed with a smile, thinking back on one of their previous visits to this establishment.

"That was a good night," Carly reminisced wistfully.

"It sucked – until the very end," he countered; she reluctantly nodded her agreement with the overall assessment, reiterated, albeit in a mumble, that it had still been a memorable night for good reasons and began to glance around at some of the other patrons.

"Anyone interesting?" Freddie asked curiously. The brunette turned to him and grinned guiltily; from his question it was clear that he knew what she was looking for.

"No," she sighed.

"Well, what about at college; there have to be some guys there that you can talk to – surely they're queuing up to date you."

"I wish they would be," she complained sadly, "I get a few 'oh it's famous Carly Shay' and they're happy to talk and stuff but…" she trailed off with a shrug.

"Maybe Sam's threatening them unless they're actually serious and not just looking to get with a superstar," the boy suggested; the corners of Carly's mouth turned up at his description of her as she toyed with the straw in her drink.

"Just keep looking Carls; the guy who's worth your time, who'll do whatever it takes to make you happy, and do it willingly because seeing you happy makes _him _happy, he's out there somewhere."

"Sounds like you a few years ago," the brunette raised an eyebrow; Freddie just shrugged. "Is that how you feel about Tori then?" she asked curiously.

"I love her and I want her to be happy; I want to be the one who _makes_ her happy. She seems to be happy right now so it's all good."

"And she makes you happy?" the web starlet persisted.

"_Insanely_ so," her former tech producer enthused with a dumb grin as he thought on his girl; Carly's jealousy flared a notch – not, she insisted to herself, from Freddie being with another girl, but from someone having, and being so happy with, what she so desperately wanted.

_Vega Residence,_

_Hollywood Hills_

_Monday, 24__th__ December 2012_.

Tori let herself into her parents' house, marvelling at the fact that a cop's family _still _never locked the front door. "Hello?" she called, glancing around the place for signs of life.

"Hey sister!" came a familiar drawl; Trina galloped downstairs to greet the younger girl, flinging herself on her and hugging her tightly.

"Hi Treen, how are you? How's school?" Tori regretted that she seldom saw her family, despite still living in the same city.

"Oh, y'know, still wowing everyone with my amazing talent," the older girl declared immodestly, "and still doing _Divertissimo_ too," she declared proudly. "It's a good steady pay cheque and so local that it doesn't interfere with school."

"I'm glad it's all going well for you," Tori enthused genuinely, hugging the girl again. "Are mom and dad home?"

"They went out somewhere," Trina waved indifferently, "but they should be back soon. Dinner's in the oven."

"They left _you_ in charge of it?" the younger girl asked in semi-genuine horror.

"Relax, _nothing_ has burned," her sister insisted.

"Did the oven get turned _on_?" Tori grinned cleverly. Her older sister frowned so, still less than convinced, chose to retreat and take her bag up to her old bedroom.

In a way it was comforting for the teenager to find that the room hadn't changed at all since she moved out; the bed was made up and looked extremely inviting to a girl who was still fatigued after her heavy workload over recent days. She set her bag down on the floor and walked slowly around the room, smiling at some of the effects that she had left behind. Suddenly her eyes were drawn to the centre of the bed itself, to a small, neatly wrapped package. She picked it up and gently turned it over, locating the label and reading it. She grinned and shook her head as she replaced the item with a slightly warmer heart.

_Tuesday, 25__th__ December 2012_.

"I can't believe you did that!" Tori mock-complained as she spoke on the phone to her boyfriend. "We said that we'd wait until you got back to exchange gifts!"

"Like you have room to talk," he smirked back. "Miss 'I'll sneak something into the bottom of his bag when he's not looking'."

"Guilty," she laughed. "I guess I just wanted you to have something from me to open on the day."

"And so did I," he admitted sincerely. "So how are the Vegas?"

"Trina's… well, she's Trina," the brunette remarked tactfully. "Mom and dad are fine, they seem happier than ever; I guess figuring everything out has been good for them. They're talking about renewing their vows sometime in the New Year so that will be a nice ceremony to have. How's your mom?"

"She's great; she says she's a bit lonely with me so far away so she works a lot more now but she's been… well, not her old self thankfully, but she's been in high spirits while I've been here."

"So no special someone for her at work or anywhere then? That's a pity," Tori sympathised.

"Yeah but you know a bit about my mom; she's not exactly the easiest person to get along with and I think she'd scare most guys off," he chuckled. "So, any plans for the next couple of days?"

"No, Beck and Jade are at her mom's for the day and going to see _his_ parents tomorrow, so there's no point in going home to see them. Cat's at her Nona's for a couple of days because her parents are still in Idaho, while André and his parents are looking after his grandmother. We'll all meet up again on Thursday once you get back."

"Sounds great; my aunt's flying over from out east later on today so she'll be with us tomorrow. I think I've seen and spent time with everyone that I need to so it's probably just going to be us Bensons between now and me going – except calling in across the hallway now and again to say hi, of course."

"I guess you need to, otherwise you'll upset Carly," the brunette grinned.

"Yeah, she's wanted to hang a lot – and it's good to see her again after being away for a while. Oh, how was the set yesterday?"

"It was fine; the new writer was pretty cool – actually he reminded me a little of one of my old science teachers at Hollywood Arts," she told him thoughtfully, "not that that would mean _anything_ to you since you only ever met Sikowitz," she conceded. "But yeah, he talked to the cast, outlining his broad vision for the plotlines and scripts for the sequel along with the minor rewrites and reshoots that are happening early next year before it all gets cut together."

"Sounds great."

"It was pretty cool, especially as I'm definitely getting an expanded role in them," she concluded with a grin. "Oh, mom's calling, I guess I'd better go and see what's going on."

"Ok, I'll talk to you soon and see you at the airport on Thursday; love you," he told her sincerely as their talk ended.

_Los Angeles International Airport,_

_Thursday, 27__th__ September 2012_.

Tori smiled and waved as her boy, and his bag, emerged from the secure area; Melanie was a step behind him with _her_ case. He rushed as best as he could, hauling the case behind him, before releasing it and catching the brunette as she leapt into his arms. The reunited couple kissed deeply before he set her down on the ground.

"I've missed you," he whispered.

"I love you," she replied, and they kissed again, lost in the moment, and one another, as the airport's other patrons went about their lives around them.

* * *

**AN: Ok, yes there's more than a little artistic license about Gibby **_**still**_** being up the chimney after all this time but it amused me to think of him being stuck there, being pelted by Sam and the kids for so long. And, as Sam said, who on earth is going to miss him? Thanks for reading, PD.**


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